


Spider-Man: Unmasked

by Ruesifee



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-04-08 02:18:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 31,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19097749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruesifee/pseuds/Ruesifee
Summary: Peter was adopted at a young age by Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, aka Captain America and Iron Man.  Peter had been a normal kid - well, as normal as you can be when you have some of earths mightiest heroes as your parents and aunt and uncles.  But, when he gets bitten by a radioactive spider, everything changes.  Now, everyday, he is going out and fighting crime, known as Spider-Man.  There's just one thing:  Steve and Tony have no idea that it is him.  What happens when Tony wants to recruit Spider-Man to the Avengers?  Will Peter tell them?  How will they find out?  What troubles will follow?  Finding out the truth about Spider-Man may not turn out to be the worst of their problems.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter sat on the edge of a building, legs dangling over the side. He was in the Spider-man suit and was scrolling through his phone. The sun was beginning to set on the now crime-less city. He sighed happily. He loved this city, and he loved protecting it. He looked at the time. He had to get home quickly if he wanted to avoid suspicion from his dads.

 

They still didn't know that he was Spider-man.

That might not have been as big of a deal, if his parents weren't Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, aka Iron man and Captain America, some of the world's greatest superheroes. His parents would kill him if they found out. 

They had adopted him when he was seven, his parents having died when he was four in a plane crash. Tony and Steve had clothed him, fed him, taught him and loved him ever since. He couldn't ask for better parents. 

He swung down to the ground and found the alleyway where his backpack which had his clothes in. He quickly changed and shoved the suit into his backpack before walking the short distance back to the house. He walked in and headed up to the living room, where his parents were watching the news. They both turned to face him.

"Hey Pete," Tony said with a smile. He had an arm wrapped around Steve.

"Hey Peter," Steve said, grinning. "You have a good day at school today?  How was Neds?"  He had told his dads that he'd be going to Ned's house after school so that he would have an excuse for being out later.

Peter nodded. "Hey dad. Hey pops. Yup. School was great. I aced my chem test," he bragged, laughing softly. "Me and Ned built a lego Death Star he got."  He set his backpack down on the couch and plopped down next to his parents. "What's new?"

"So far," Tony recounted, referring to the news. "Most of the things they've talked about is crime, and it being stopped by Spider-man."

Peter perked up slightly. "Oh?"

Steve nodded. "He's a good kid. The city loves him. Definitely does a good job of protecting it." 

"He seems reckless to me," Tony commented, looking at the TV. "And young. But he certainly has good tech."

Peter had worked on that tech in the lab. He had made that suit with the unknowing help of Tony. He had learned everything tech related from Tony, after all. Tony was a wonderful inventor and a great teacher.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. He-" he cleared his throat. "He seems like a good guy. A cool guy." His dad glanced over at him before looking back at the TV. He wanted to tell his dads that it was him. That he was Spider-man. But it wasn't as easy as going, ‘Hey Dad, Pops, Guess what? I'm Spider-man! I go fight crime and risk my life everyday. Now who wants to watch a movie?’ Yeah, something told Peter that that wouldn't go over well. He had to find the perfect way.

His dads nodded and they all focused back on the TV. After awhile, Peter went into his room, grabbing his backpack on the way. He pulled out his small amount of homework and got that out of the way.

Making sure the door was locked, he pulled out his suit and started working on fixing simple things. His web shooters had been acting up a little, so those needed to be fixed. 

He worked and worked until he got a knock on the door. He quickly shoved his suit away. "Come in!" He called, having successfully hidden it.

Tony walked in, smiling softly. "Hey bud," he said, closing the door and sitting on the edge of Peter's bed. "I wanted to talk to you for a moment."

Peter nodded, slightly worried. Had he found out? How could he? Was something wrong? He tried to stay calm and looked up at his Dad. "Of course."

Tony cleared his throat. "So, about this Spider-man," he began, not noticing the way Peter tensed up slightly. "Do... do you know him?"

Peter stared at his dad, slightly shocked. "What?" His dad thought he knew Spider-man? Why would he? At least he didn't think he was Spider-man. 

Tony nodded. "I just thought that he seemed to be your age and you seemed to somewhat know and like the guy, and..." he shrugged. "I'm guessing you don't know him, then?"

Peter didn't know what to say. Did he tell him that he did know Spider-man? Did he tell him that he was Spider-man? No. He couldn't. He wanted to tell them, but he couldn't. He stammered, "uh, um, yeah. No, I don't. Sorry, Dad."

Tony nodded and stood up. "Alright. Just thought I might as well check. It's fine." He headed for the door.

"Why do you ask?" Peter blurted. He wanted to know why his dad was interested in Spider-man. He didn't seem to be all that interested before. In fact, he didn't seem to be a huge fan of him.

Tony looked back at him. "Oh. I was... I was thinking of recruiting Spider-man. You know, make him an Avenger."

 

Peter held back a gasp. "Really?" He tried to hide the excitement that was building up inside him. "An Avenger?" He had always wanted to be an Avenger. Ever since he was... twelve.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. I was hoping you knew him somehow so I could easily recruit him."

Peter smiled excitedly until realization dawned on him. He couldn't. He couldn't become an Avenger. If Spider-man became an Avenger, that would mean that Peter would have to reveal himself to his parents. If he revealed himself, then his dad and pops would be furious. In their eyes, he was too young, and he hated that. They would take away his suit and he wouldn't be Spider-man anymore. He couldn't risk that.

Peter hesitantly said, "I don't know, Dad. I don't think that's a good idea." He bit his lip and looked at his dad.

Tony frowned, puzzled. "Why?" He asked. "I thought you'd like that idea." He went back to the edge of the bed.

Peter thought for a moment. "Well... You said so yourself. He's young and reckless, right? Plus, he seems to like working alone." Honestly, Peter was kind of sick of working alone. He wanted to work with more people. But, it was either work alone, or not work at all. He liked that first option better.

Tony shrugged. "Maybe we could use a little reckless. And sometimes, having someone young can be useful. Sometimes," He repeated, giving Peter a pointed look. Peter had asked plenty of times before to become an Avenger and help them. He had always been told he was too young. "Plus, he seems to have some good tech. I wanna see who my competitor is."

Peter sighed and nodded. "I guess. But what about the working alone?" he added, hoping it would work. "He seems to be doing fine on his own."

Tony thought for a moment. "Huh. I don't think so. From what I can see, he isn't necessarily the 'working alone' type. He wants to work with someone." Before Peter could say anything else, Tony stood up. "Well, I've got your input. Now, just for the Avengers to decide." He kissed his son's forehead and headed for the door. "Thanks kiddo. Dinner should be ready in an hour." He left, closing the door behind him.

Peter groaned softly. This was a dream come true for him! But he couldn't. He couldn't accept or his parents were going to find out he was Spider-man. His parents and the other Avengers would probably decide to recruit him and look for Spider-man. He took his pillow and held it over his face. Everything was easier before they decided to try to recruit Spider-man. Everything so much was easier before.

What was he going to do?


	2. Chapter 2

Peter began trudging out of his room, heading to breakfast and then school. It had been a few weeks since Tony had asked about if Peter knew Spider-Man and recruiting him. So far, he hadn't said much else about it, which relieved Peter. He stumbled to the table, wearing his usual jeans and sweater outfit. He poured himself some cereal and began eating.

Steve and Tony came down soon after. "Morning Pete," Steve yawned, messing with Peter's hair. Tony said nothing and kissed Peter's forehead and grunted in greeting.

Peter smiled and ate, his parents joining. "Any plans for today?" Steve asked Peter, eating his cereal.

Peter shrugged. "Surviving through school. Hanging out at Ned's place. The usual." The 'usual' being getting into his suit right after school and swinging around the city. But, he wasn't going to tell them that.

Tony nodded. "Have fun. Say hello to Ned for me," he said, cereal in his mouth.

Peter nodded. "I should get going anyways." He picked up his bag and headed out after exchanging goodbyes with his dads.

He made his was to the school, it being not to far from his house. He did this every morning. He had a daily routine. Walk to school, suffer through the school day, go and fight crime as Spider-Man, go back home, homework, sleep, repeat.

He walked into the school, looking around at everyone there. MJ was there doing who knows what, Flash was tormenting practically everyone, and Ned was already at his locker.

Peter smiled and walked over to his locker. "Hey, Ned." He began opening his locker, glancing over at his best friend. They talked and talked until the bell rang and they headed over to their homeroom. They made it barely in time.

The classes were pretty much the same the whole day, exactly how they were everyday. Flash tormented him a bit, he did a test, same old same old.  Peter was a wonderful student, but he didn't care for school. Could you blame him? 

At the end of the day, Peter rushed outside. He went to his usual alleyway and, making sure no one was looking, he changed quickly into his Spider-Man suit.  He slid on his mask and put his backpack in its usual spot before swinging off into the city. 

Peter looked around the city as he swung.  It wasn't the most beautiful city, but hey, it was home.  He smiled under his mask and kept swinging and looking around until he crashed into a building.  "I'm okay!!"  He exclaimed. 

Peter continued to help the city.  He helped an old lady with directions and she bought him a churro.  He stopped a bike robbery.  Oh, and a bank robbery.

Whilst he was swinging, he heard a familiar noise from behind him.  The Iron Man suit.  It was still a ways away, which meant he had a bit of time.  He swung faster and faster.  He heard the suit getting closer.  He eventually stopped behind a building, hidden.  He heard the Iron Man suit fly by and gave a quiet sigh of relief.

He saw this as a sign to leave.  He swung over to his alleyway.  He went to grab his backpack but froze.  "Shoot," he muttered.  His backpack was gone.  That had his schoolwork and clothes in it.

He swung over to Stark Tower, sneaking in his window.  He crawled on the ceiling, trying to get over to his partially opened door.  He closed it and locked it before jumping down quietly.  He pulled off his mask and ran a hand through his hair before turning to face his bed.  He jumped as he saw Ned standing there, jaw dropped. 

He quickly took of the suit.  "T-This is not what it looks like!!"  He said quickly, changing into clothes. "What are you doing here?"

"You- you said I could come over!" Ned shook his head, shocked.  "You're- You're the Spider-Man!  Like- like on Tv!"

Peter shushed him.  "Ned!  Don't say it so loud!"

Ned's eyes widened even more.  "They- your dads don't know yet?!"

Peter shook his head.  "No!" He said in a hushed voice.  "If I told them, they probably wouldn't let me do this anymore!  I've risked my life doing this!  I have enemies!  They would flip out!"  He quickly hid the suit.

Peter had a few enemies that he had jailed but a few that just kept slipping through his grasp.  His dads would freak out if they knew.

Ned nodded, face suddenly more serious.  "Right.  Don't tell your dads."  He eventually caved and said, "I don't know if I can keep this a secret, dude!"

Peter shook his head.  "Ned, you have to. If you want to be safe - if you want me to be safe, then you have to keep it a secret. Please." He looked into his friend's eyes, begging him.

Ned nodded, sighing softly. "Okay. I promise, Peter."

At that moment, Tony walked in. He saw Peter wearing boxers and a sweater and raised an eyebrow. "Hey bud. Didn't see you come in. Dinner is ready. Wanna join, Ned?"

Peter spoke for Ned quickly, "No. He's got a thing."

Ned nodded. "A thing to do... after..."

Tony looked between the two, confused. "Okay..." He looked at Peter. "You might want to put on a shirt, bud."

———————————

Peter, Tony and Steve were at the dinner table, Peter now fully clothed. They ate their dinner slowly.

"How was your day, Pete?" Steve asked in between bites.

"It was... fine." Peter shrugged. "Nothing interesting."

Peter was being pretty silent the whole dinner. He was thrown off by Ned finding out. He trusted Ned, but what if he accidentally told someone?

"What's the matter?" Tony asked. "We thought you loved larb."

"It's too larby?" Steve asked, smiling.

"Not larby enough!" Tony decided, laughing a little.

"How many times do we have to say larb before... you talk to us?" Steve asked, laughing.

"You know we larb you," Tony teased, putting his fork down.

Peter laughed a little at his dads' antics. "Yeah. I know. Just... just stressed with school stuff."

"Need any help, bud? You know I-"

"I need a new backpack..." Peter interrupted, biting his lip.

Steve set his fork down. "Again? That's- that's the fifth one this year. How do you keep losing them?"

Peter looked down. "It just... it just happens."

"Peter," Tony sighed. "These things don't just 'happen'. What's up?"

"It's nothing, alright!?" Peter snapped, dropping his silverware.

"Peter, don’t talk to us like that, we’re only trying to help." Steve said, surprised.

"And why can't I?" Peter said, voice shaking. He was so stressed and annoyed, he didn't even care.

"Peter Rogers-Stark! What has gotten into you?! Tony asked, standing up.  

Peter let out a groan of exasperation and stormed off to his room. Had he overreacted? Most definitely. But he was so stressed. His parents didn't understand. They couldn't understand. He slammed the door and made a quick decision.

He went to where he had the suit hidden and slid it on, pulling the mask over his face.  It was dark outside as he opened the window.  He heard footsteps coming down the hall.  He had to be quick. He snuck out the window and into the night right before hearing the door open.  By the time they got in, he was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony opened the door to Peter's room, needing to talk to their son. Peter had been acting strange lately, and this was crossing the line. "Pete?" He asked slowly. "Can I talk to you?" No answer.

He frowned and opened the door fully. He froze when he saw no one inside. He cursed and ran out. Steve was still at the table, shocked at his sons behavior. Steve looked at him, confused as he walked out.

"Went that bad, huh?" Steve asked. "That was quick."

"He's gone," he said through gritted teeth. "Peter's gone."

"What?! How?" Steve stood up. He began to pace. “What do you mean he’s gone? We’re stories up and aside from the door and the window there’s no way out. How could he possibly be gone?"

"Well Steve if I knew I would tell you! But unfortunately, I don’t know!" Tony yelled, stressed and annoyed.

Steve nodded, trying to keep calm, which is hard when your son just vanished. “Let’s see if the security cameras picked anything up.”

“J.A.R.V.I.S. pull up the security cameras from the outer north side of the building and start playing them from about 5 minutes ago.”

“I’m sorry sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S.’s voice said, “but it appears that the security tapes have been tampered with. No footage from the last 5 minutes has been recorded anywhere on the north side of the tower.”

Tony froze. “What? How is this possible? Remind me to create you better next time.”

Steve worded the fear that they both shared but didn’t want to admit. “Tony, what if he’s been kidnapped somehow?”

People had tried to do it before. They never succeeded. They couldn’t have this time... could they?

Tony gritted his teeth, dreading that possibility. He was Tony Stark. No one could clown his tech.

“Call Bruce and Natasha. Let’s go get our son.”

—————

Peter was on the top of a building, looking at the city lit up by the thousands of shining buildings. He sighed and pulled off his mask. What was he doing? He had been swinging around for the past two hours, letting off steam. He had been furious at his parents, but now he was mostly mad at himself. Why did he have to snap like that? He needed to go back.

He stood up, put on his mask, and was about to shoot a web when he saw two figures on the building next to him - no, four. He froze when he realized who they were. It was Tony, Steve, Aunt Natasha, and Uncle Bruce. He cursed under his breath and tried to act casual, realizing it was too late to swing away.

Once they arrived in front of him, Tony said, "Ah, Spider-Man, just the person I needed to see." Peter could hear the distress in his voice and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He was the cause of that distress. 

"Oh?" He said, changing his voice, giving himself an accent. "Why? How can I help the Avengers?"

"Our son," Steve said softly, almost pleadingly. "He's missing. He... He was mad and we sent him to his room. Tony comes in minutes later and...." he trailed off, unable to finish.

Peter wanted to cry. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Of course. I'll help you find him."

What was he thinking? He couldn't help them find himself! Nonetheless, he had promised. 

Tony gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I've got to have a chat with you when all of this is over."

Peter knew exactly what that 'chat' would be about.  And he was not looking forward to it.  But right now, he had to focus on helping them find himself.

"Alright.  Cap, you go with Spider-Man and go search that way-" Tony said, gesturing to one direction.  "And me, Natasha and Bruce will go the other."  Everyone nodded and they headed their separate ways.  

The first little while was silent as Peter walked with his Pops.  He couldn't talk about much without revealing his identity.  

Eventually, Steve spoke up.  "I don't think we've ever officially met," He said slowly.

You have no idea, he thought, debating his answer.  "No, we haven't."  He still kept his accent.  If he used his actual voice, then Steve would recognize him in an instant.

"I'm Captain America, or Steve Rogers, as you probably know," he said, looking around for Peter.

Peter nodded.  "I am Spider-Man," He said plainly.  There was no way he was going to reveal his name to his pops.  

Steve nodded slowly.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Spider-Man."  They stayed quiet for most of the search.

"So... Why did your kid... why did they run off?  If you don't mind me asking."  He wanted to know how his dads felt about it.  

Steve stayed silent for a moment before saying, "He... He was upset.  He was quiet at dinner and then when we tried to cheer him up, he talked about how he lost his backpack.  And that's the fifth one this year!  When we tried to talk to him about it, he snapped and..." he sighed.  "And he got sent to his room.  When Tony - my husband - walked in to try to talk to him, he was gone."

Peter felt even more guilt wash over him.  "Did he... did he explain why?"

Steve shook his head.  "No.  Well, he said he was stressed from homework and school, but I'm wondering..."  He hesitated before continuing, "I'm wondering if it's our fault."

Peter wanted to cry.  "What- what do you mean?" 

"Well... We're always gone on missions, and he's been wanting to be an Avenger for so long, and..." he trailed off.  "Maybe he feels ignored... I don't know.  He might also hate the attention being a child of a superhero.  I can't help but wonder if he's getting bullied. He comes back home with all these bruises and... Gosh, I've been a terrible dad..."

"He doesn't feel that way!!"  He blurted, not thinking.  Steve looked at him, confused.  "I mean... I'm sure he doesn't feel that away.  If I were him, I wouldn't feel that way.  You are a superhero!  Why would he be disappointed or feel ignored!  He should understand."  He was glad that Steve couldn't see his face, because he was sweating bullets.  "He should know how busy you are and that you can't control when the missions are and how long they are."

Steve raised an eyebrow before nodding.  "Yeah... Maybe you're right.  I really hope he feels that way..." 

Peter nodded, calming down.  "I'm sure he feels that way."

They walked a ways before Peter got an idea for how he could be found without revealing his identity.  "I've got an idea of where he might be.  Stay on this path and continue looking this way."

Steve hesitated before nodding.  "Got it."

Peter headed off in a new direction. After he thought he was far enough, he swung into an alleyway. Dark, dreary and disgusting. It was perfect.

He got out of his suit where his clothes were on underneath. He hid the suit and looked around for something to hit himself with. When he saw nothing, he decided to stick with good ol’ fashion fist.

So, he punched himself. Hard.

 

He winced, but it was part of the plan.  He did so a few more times before grabbing his phone.  He quickly jabbed in his pops number.

Steve answered instantly.  "Peter?!  Thank goodness are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine.  I'm in an alleyway by the tower.  Please come."

"We're on our way," Steve said before hanging up.

Peter looked down.  Was punching himself a dramatic way to do it? Yes, yes it was. But he was the king of being over dramatic. He needed a reason for ‘Spider-Man’ to save him. It made sense in his head. He debated hitting himself in the face to give himself a black eye, but at that moment, his dads rushed in, Aunt Natasha and Uncle Bruce behind them.  Steve still wore his uniform, but Tony had changed out of his suit.

His dads quickly hugged him, Steve visibly shaken.  "Oh thank goodness you're okay.  What happened?  Where is Spider-Man?"  He looked at Peter's beaten face.

"I left through a back exit, mad.  I snuck away and just walked around to blow off some steam. Then, as I was on my way back, some men came and attacked me.  I managed to fend them off, but Spider-Man came and helped me stop them before leaving."  He felt tears fall.  "I'm sorry.  It's all my fault.  You guys didn't do anything wrong.  I'm sorry if I made it seem like it was your fault."  He cried quietly, guilt drowning him. He could have been just enjoying time  
with his parents, watching a movie right now, but instead he had to overreact. 

Tony shook his head.  "Peter, it's okay.  You're okay.  That's all that matters.  Just never do that again, okay?"  He held Peter close and Peter could feel Tony shaking softly.  

And so, the family stood there in the alleyway, holding each other close.  They stayed there for who knows how long, embracing each other and saying nothing, not caring about anything around them.


	4. Chapter 4

Peter was in his room, working on homework.  He still had a lot of work to make up for since he lost his backpack a few days ago.  He was figuring out a math question when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he called, looking up from his homework and setting his pencil down.  

Both of his dads walked in and he knew what was coming.  None of them had talked about that night when he ran away much, still stressed and worried.  Now, they must have been coming in to talk about the events of said night.

"Hey bud," Tony said, slowly.  Him and Steve sat on the edge of Peter's bed.  "We need to talk to you about.... about what happened the other night."

Peter sighed and nodded.  He knew it.  "Yeah, Alright."  He closed his math book and looked at his parents.

Steve was first to speak.  "Why did you do it?"  He asked.

Peter bit his lip.  "I-I don't know.  I was just... stressed.  I mean, with school and losing my backpack again, I... I lost it."

Tony nodded.  "Was it really just school?   Is there something else?  You haven't been yourself lately, and it doesn't seem to be just school stress."

Peter looked down.  Should he tell them now?  No.  This wasn't the right time.  He didn't know how, but he could tell.  "It's just... I've been being bullied.... a little bit.... because of you two...." he mumbled.  That was true.  People, especially Flash, would annoy him and bully him relentlessly because of his dads.  "I guess that's been part of it."

Steve and Tony stayed silent for a moment.  Steve stared at his hands while Tony looked down.  "I- I'm sorry," Tony finally said.

"It's not your fault," Peter said quickly. "It's mine for not dealing with it better. I should've... I don't know. I'm sorry, pops, dad. I shouldn't have run away in the first place. I was an idiot and I didn't think of how you two felt. The missions and hero stuff... You guys can't control these things."

Tony and Steve hugged him, surprising Peter a bit. He hugged back.

"You're still in sooooo much trouble," Steve said as he pulled away from the hug. 

Peter laughed softly. "Yeah. I know. What's my punishment?" 

"No phone for a month unless given permission and..." Tony said, smiling softly. "No going to Neds everyday after school. We need you to be around sometimes too."

Peter was about to argue when he smiled softly. "Yeah, that's fair." He'd survive without his phone. As long as he was still able to swing around the city a few days after school, he'd be fine.

"Now come on, Pete," Steve said, standing up. "The Avengers are coming over."

———————

Ah, the Avengers, earth's mightiest heroes. Also known as Uncle Bruce, Aunt Natasha, Uncle Thor, and Uncle Clint. Also known as the group that can't make it twenty minutes into The Lion King without sobbing. Well, except for Natasha, Tony and Peter.

"Are you kidding me, guys?" Natasha asked. "You've seen this movie at least twenty times."

"His dad is gone, Natasha!" Clint yelled. "Scar's a jerk!!"

"Peter is much younger than all of you, and he's able to see it without sobbing!" 

Peter rolled his eyes. "So much for earth's mightiest heroes," he teased.

"Hey!" Steve yelled, wiping his eyes. "This is a deep movie for all ages!"

Peter, Tony and Natasha laughed as they watched everyone sobbing their eyes out over Mufasa. Thor was sobbing the most, muttering something about Loki.

As the movie finished, the Avengers gathered around the table. "Hey bud?" Steve said, looking over at Peter. "Mind going into your room for a minute?"

Peter bit his lip before giving a sigh and nodding. He went into the hallway before stopping. He turned around and stayed in the hallway, close enough to hear most of what they were saying.

"I don't know," Bruce said, a bit of worry in his voice. "It seems a bit dangerous. I mean, has anyone tried to fight this guy and won before?"

"Spider-Man has," Steve said, voice somewhat hushed. "It was all over the news when it happened. Now, he's escaped somehow. We need to get him back behind bars. Once and for all."

Peter froze. It was someone he had fought? His mind raced and tried to figure out who it could be.

"Why don't we get him to help us, then?" Natasha asked, causing some murmurs of agreement.

"Because," Tony said, sighing.  "He's a kid.  Yes, he's fought him before, but we've already asked him for help recently.  He deserves a break."

"Tony is right," Clint agreed.  "We can do it.  Spider-Man doesn't need to be brought into this."

"Who is this villain?  Do we know where he might be next?"  Thor asked.

"It's Carnage.  And we think-"

Peter zoned out after he heard the name.  Carnage.  Not him.  He ran a hand through his hair.  

Carnage was a symbiote that took control of a serial killer.  He was insane.  They both added to that insanity.  He had barely managed to beat him the first time, and was so beaten up, he had lied and told his parents that he had gotten stuck in the crossfire between the symbiote and Spider-Man.  He still had no idea how his dads had believed him.

"So we've come to an agreement?"  He heard his pops say.  Everyone muttered a yes in response.  Peter heard the chairs pushing out and he quickly but quietly rushed to his room.  He sat on his bed and heard footsteps coming down the hall.  There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"  He shouted, still a bit dazed.

Steve walked in slowly.  "Hey Pete."  He closed the door and leaned against it.  "So..." he hesitated before saying, "We've got a mission tomorrow."

Peter acted surprised.  "You do?  What about?"

Steve shook his head.  "I wish I could tell you.  It's best you don't know.  But we'll be gone for a good amount of time.  We don't know exactly how long.  You think you'll be okay?"  

Peter nodded, already formulating a plan in his mind.  "Yeah.  I'll be fine."  He smiled softly.  "You guys have fun and don't die, got it?"

Steve laughed and nodded.  "Got it.  Thanks for understanding."  He kissed Peter's forehead.  "We'll talk about it later.  You can come out if you want."

Peter nodded.  "I'll be there in a few minutes," he replied, sitting up straighter.  Steve nodded and left.

Peter spent the next while planning.  When his dads thought he would be going to school the next day, he'd be on his way to fighting Carnage, and getting him locked away and dealt with immediately.

Before his parents could get to him.  He had fought him before.  He could do it again, couldn't he?


	5. Chapter 5

Peter left his room early the next morning. He went to the table where his parents and the other Avengers were sitting. They all turned and faced him when he walked in, saying hello.

"You're up early," Clint remarked.

Peter shrugged. "I'm meeting up with Ned for breakfast," he lied. "We want to get there in time to eat and make it to school on time."

They all nodded and looked back at their food and each other except for his dads. 

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Tony asked, chewing his lip. 

Peter nodded. "Dad, this has happened plenty of times before. I'll be fine. Trust me." He gave his dad a reassuring smile. He looked at the time. "I should go." He gave everyone quick hugs before  
leaving. 

He headed in the general direction of the school before going into an alleyway. His dads thought he'd be going to school, but he had other plans. He changed into his Spider-Man suit which he had stored in his backpack and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He shot a web at a nearby building and began swinging. He would beat Carnage. He had to.

—————————

He arrived at where Carnage was last seen and only had to wait mere seconds before seeing Carnage stumble into view as graceful as a newborn deer wearing one of Tony's suits. Peter let out a low sigh before landing on the broken road. "Hey, ugly!" He shouted. "Guess who's back!!"

Carnage looked into Peter's eyes which made him shudder and gulp. He was blood red and looked like a somehow worse and much gorier version of Venom. He had tentacle-like tendrils coming from him. Peter hated him. He honestly had no clue as to how to beat Carnage.

Peter threw his backpack onto the building he was perched on before. He shot a web at Carnage, encasing the creatures arm in webbing. He pulled on the part of the web that he had, but to no prevail. Carnage laughed and ripped off the webbing with ease. He took what was left of the rope of webbing and pulled it, easily dragging Peter until he was right in front of Carnage.

"Uhhhhh..." Peter looked up at Carnage, shaking. "Hey." He could feel the blood dripping down his face. 

Carnage let out a yell and held Peter, his tendrils getting closer and closer to Peter. Peter thrashed around in his grip. How did I beat him before? How?? He thought, his mind blanking. He shot more and more webs at Carnage until he shot some at his eyes, blinding him.

Confused and blinded, Carnage dropped him, clawing at his eyes. Peter let out a small cheer and began webbing him more and more. Eventually, Carnage was completely encased in webbing.

"Welp," Peter said, pleased. "This was fun. Thanks for the warm up. Now, to-"

Peter was cut off by Carnage letting out a yell and coming out of the webbing. Peter gaped, shocked. "Oh come on!" 

Carnage growled and rushed over to Peter before he could do anything. He grabbed Peter and slammed him against the wall. Peter yelled, in pain. "Woah, buddy! Can't we work this out?" He said through gritted teeth.

Carnage pressed him harder into the wall. Peter let out a gasp. "Nope. Got it," he breathed. 

Carnage's tendrils neared Peter until there was one pressed almost into his gut. He winced. He tried to shoot a web at Carnage, but Carnage just used his other tendrils to hold his arms down. Peter was helpless. 

What's wrong with me? He thought. I've beat him before! How did I do it??!

While Peter was thinking of how to defeat him, Carnage brought one of his slimy, sharp tendrils into Peter's gut. He let out a loud yell and Carnage let out a small yelp, pulling slightly away. Peter smiled softly, ignoring the blood dripping from his mouth. He let out another yell and Carnage pulled away completely, making Peter crumple to the ground. He let out a low moan.

Peter looked up at Carnage who was holding his ears. Sound, Peter thought. He doesn't like sound. He tried to stand up, but when he did, he collapsed back onto the ground. He leaned his head against the wall, and let out a groan as his backpack fell off the top of the building and onto his head. He glared at his backpack and then looked to see Carnage standing above him, smiling wickedly with his wide, sharp-toothed, slimy mouth. Peter closed his eyes, accepting what would happen next. 

Suddenly, he heard a sound that he didn't realize he had been longing to hear until now. The Iron Man suit. He grinned and cheered a little, before coughing, bits of blood dripping down from his mouth. 

He saw his dad flying over and his pops along with the other Avengers running towards Carnage. Carnage turned just in time to be hit by an Arrow from his Uncle Clint. Carnage yelled and ran towards Clint.

The battle became a blur as Iron Man landed in front of him. "Are you okay?" He asked, before glancing at the wound in his gut. "Woah, no you're not." He went to help him, but Peter quickly moved out of the way.

"No!" Peter quickly yelled. He cleared his throat and said with an accent, "I'll be fine. Thank you. You may want to focus on the fight." He tried to stand up. He shot a web at a building and swung - right into the building. He moaned and landed on his back, drifting in and out of consciousness. Iron Man and Captain America quickly came over to him. 

Perfect, he thought, dazed. Another one. 

"He okay?" Steve asked Tony. 

"Hm, lets see: he's bleeding majorly, he just rammed into a wall... overall, I'd say he's fine!" Tony replied, looking at his husband. "What do you think??!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Let's take off your mask, kid, see how bad it is," he said, reaching for Peter's mask.

"No!" He said, attempting to scoot away. He couldn't let his dads find out. Not like this. He backed up until he was too sore to move anymore. 

"I'm sorry, kid. We've got to find out how bad it is," Steve said, sounding genuinely sorry. He began to pull off the mask, it coming off slowly due to all of the blood.

Tony gasped when the mask came all the way off. He showed his face from in his suit, the pain and shock visible in his face. "No. No no no. Not you. Please no." 

Steve stared into Peter's eyes, dropping the bloodied mask onto the floor. "Peter...?" His voice was shaking and tears were visible. "Oh please no."

"Hey dad. Hey pops," he said, voice shaking. He put on a faint smile and winced. He was barely recognizable. His face was all bloody and his hair was a disheveled mess, but he was definitely Peter. 

"Captain," Thor spoke into their earpieces. "Carnage is getting away."

"We've got bigger problems, Thor," Tony said shakily into the earpiece. "Natasha, call an ambulance. Quick!"

Tony held Peter's head in his lap. "Oh Pete... why? Why did you- how-? Why didn't you tell us?" He asked, tears falling.

"I-I'm sorry," Peter said quietly, staring up at his dads. He heard the other Avengers coming over and gasping as they saw Peter. "I'm so sorry." And with that, he drifted out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

Steve watched in shock and horror with all the other Avengers as the ambulance took away his son.  His son was Spider-Man.  He didn't know how to feel.  Those times when he came home with bruises... those times they worked with Spider-Man... 

Everything made sense.  The night Peter ran off and the way Spider-Man had reacted to how Steve felt about the whole situation and how Spider-Man had disappeared when they found Peter.  He looked at his husband, tears cascading down his cheeks.  

Tony held his husband close, tears of his own falling.  His own son.  Risking his life everyday.  He had had no idea.

Soon, Steve asked the question they had all been thinking; "How did we not notice?"

Natasha sighed.  "I don't know.  How did we not see it before? He's been acting strange for so long, I..." She shook her head. "God, I can't believe it."

"We can talk about how crazy it is and how we can't believe it later," Tony said, wiping at his eyes. "Right now, Peter is in the hospital, badly wounded. We need to get there. Now."

Everyone nodded in agreement before heading to the hospital.

————————

"Let us see him! Now!!" Tony yelled at the nurse outside Peter's hospital room. "That's our son!!"

"Mr. Stark, please. They are doing the best they can to help him, and you going in will not help!" The nurse insisted, not moving. 

"Tony, please," Steve said, holding his husband's arm. "Let's just wait. I want to see him too, but we can't."

Tony sighed and nodded. "Fine." He shot the nurse a glare and sulked back into the waiting room where everyone else sat. 

Natasha and Bruce looked up at him, expectantly. "Not allowed in yet," Tony said plainly. He slumped into a chair and held his head in his hands. Steve rested a hand on Tony's back, rubbing it gently.

Tony thought back to his son, bleeding in Tony's arms. He started shaking, the worry rising. Would his son be okay? The son he had raised and fed and loved, had been lying to him for years. He didn't know what to feel. Pride? Shock? Betrayal? Anger? All of them?

He was brought out of his thoughts by a nurse saying, "You're the parents of Peter Rogers-Stark, correct?"

Tony looked up and nodded. "Yes. How is he?" He asked frantically. 

"He is... awake." Everyone gave a collective sigh of relief. "Though he is still in very poor condition.  A few broken bones, some major blood loss.... though, the bones are actually healing quiet quickly."

"Can we see him?"  Steve asked hopefully.  "Please?"

The nurse hesitated before shaking his head.  "No, sirs.  He is still in poor condition, like I said, and-"

He was cut off by Steve and Tony charging up to him.  "Listen here," Tony said through gritted teeth.  "That is our son in there.  He is hurt and we need to see him. Let us in, or there will be consequences!"

If Tony's threat hadn't been enough, then the glare from Steve and Natasha certainly were. The nurse gulped and nodded. "Alright. Just be careful. Don't be too loud."

The Avengers headed to Peter's hospital room. Steve looked at the group as they arrived at the door. "Only Tony and I should go in first. If it's as bad as they say, then we definitely shouldn't go in all at once." Everyone nodded in agreement and Tony and Steve went into Peter's room.

Steve held back a sob as he looked at his son. Peter was laying in his hospital bed, eyes half shut. He was bruised and bandaged up everywhere.

Peter's eyes widened a little as his dads came in. "Dad. Pops." He tried to sit up a bit but then then just gave up.

"Peter," Steve said, going up to one of the seats beside his bed.  "H-how you feeling, bud?"

"Like crap," Peter said, voice hoarse.  "Surprise surprise."

Tony nodded.  He had no clue what to say.  "Understandable."

Come on, Tony, he thought.  Say something!

Steve eventually said, "Peter, we really need to talk about this... this Spider-Man thing."

Peter let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I know..." He looked down. He knew this was coming. As if his dads would let that slide. 

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tony asked, the hurt plain in his voice. 

Peter stared at his bandaged body and said, "I-I knew that if you knew, then you wouldn't let me do it anymore. I love being Spider-Man. I love protecting the city. I knew that you guys would make me stop if you knew... I'm sorry."

Tony wanted to retaliate by saying that they wouldn't have, but he knew that Peter was true. If they had known... Tony and Steve shared a look. "You... you're probably right, kiddo."

Peter nodded. He looked at his dads. "Exactly.  I couldn't risk it." 

Steve sighed. "And you've fought this guy before? This... Carnage?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. But... I can't remember how. Sorry, that must sound so dumb." He sighed.

Tony rested a hand very gently on his son's shoulder. "It's not, Pete. We understand. You've been through a lot." He hesitated before asking, "How... how long have you been... doing this for? How long have you been Spider-Man?"

Peter bit his lip. "A year?" He estimated, looking at his dads. 

Tony's eyes widened. "A year? How- how did this happen?"

Peter fidgeted a bit, wincing. "I-I got bit by a... radioactive spider..."

Steve sat up straighter. "A radioactive spider? When? How?" His mind was racing. His son had been bitten by a radioactive spider over a year ago? And they hadn't known? 

"At a field trip. We went to this... lab. I don't know. My memory is awful, especially after that fight..." 

Tony stood up. He ran a hand through his hair. "All that time in the lab. All those times when you were out and we thought you were at Ned's house. All of those times -"

"Tony, please," Steve said, quietly.

"Dad..."

"No," he said, pacing. "I asked you if you knew Spider-Man. God, I'm an idiot. How did I not know?" He seemed to be talking more to himself now. "And I wanted to recruit him?! All those times you came home with bruises..."

"Dad, please!" Peter said, tears beginning to fall. "I'm sorry." He looked down. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"So you were just planning on not telling us?" Tony said, anger and confusion blinding him. "What if we had recruited Spider-Man, huh? Were you just planning on never-"

"Tony!" Steve said, standing up. "Please calm down!"

"My son is in the hospital, Steve!"

"Our son! Don't you think I'm worried and stressed too?!"

They both argued and didn't stop until they heard the machines connected to Peter beep more frantically. They both looked to see Peter unconscious. Steve gasped and Tony cursed. Nurses rushed in, ushering Tony and Steve out.

"I knew it was a bad idea," the nurse from before muttered, rushing to help Peter.

The door was slammed shut once Tony and Steve came out. The Avengers watched, confused and worried. They started asking questions and Steve tried to answer. Tony just stayed silent and, after a while, left the group. 

Steve noticed almost immediately and excused himself from the group so he could talk to his husband. He was on his way when Thor rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Give him time," he said, looking at Steve. "He needs it."

Steve hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. I think we all do." He watched his husband walk away, wanting so much just to follow him out.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony was sitting outside on a hospital bench, head in his hands.  He had potentially killed his son.  He was too busy being angry and arguing with Steve to realize that he was harming his son.  He was a terrible father.

He was just still in shock.  How had he not known when his son had been bit by a radioactive spider?  What kind of parent was he?  He felt awful.

He noticed people looking at him as they passed or entered the hospital. Some people just shook their heads and continued on their way. Some, mostly kids, came up to him, asking for his autograph or asking if he was alright.

"I'm fine," he'd reply simply before giving them his   
autograph. They'd thank him and run off, fangirling or fanboying.

This went on for a while. After probably hours, he finally stood up and went back inside the hospital. When he arrived at the waiting room, he was automatically attacked with a hug from Steve. 

"Someone finally decided to come back," Clint remarked, sitting back in a waiting room chair.

"Any word about Peter?"  He asked, hugging his husband back.

"He's alright," Natasha said. "No one is allowed to see him for now. No changing their minds."

Tony nodded. "Good. Great." The guilt filled his head.

"It's not your fault, Tony," Steve said, pulling away. He held Tony's hands and squeezed them gently. "Don't go blaming yourself."

"But it is, Steve! He was hurt and unstable, and I just yelled at him and argued! Now, he's even worse because of me!" Tony pulled his hands away. He slumped into a waiting room chair and he'd his head in his hands. 

Steve sat beside him. He hesitantly rested a hand on Tony's back and rubbed it gently. "We both were responsible. I get it. It's very stressful having this information, I know. When he gets home, we'll grill him and ground him then."

Tony laughed softly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I just... I just need time, I guess."

"Not too much time," Natasha said, standing up. "Carnage is still out there. Peter happen to give any advice on how to get this guy?"

Steve shook his head. "No.  His memory isn't the best, but I don't blame him.  He's been through a lot."

Natasha nodded. "Guess we're gonna have to figure it out ourselves. I don't want to rush you guys into this, but he is a serious threat and is kind of wreaking havoc on the city soooo..."

Tony nodded. "Right. Let's go. Let’s regroup and get him."

"Tony?" Thor questioned. "Are you sure? He-"

"He hurt my son," Tony interrupted. "He needs to be dealt with immediately."

 

———————

They all arrived back at Stark tower, now out of their suits and ungreenified.  They all sat around the table.  

"What are we supposed to do?"  Clint asked, being the first to speak.  

Steve sighed.  "I don't know.  He's very powerful.  I don't know how Spider-Man- how... Pete did it before."

"Yeah, well neither does he," Natasha remarked.  "So, we've got no info on this guy?"

"Not exactly," Bruce spoke up.  "He... he's a serial killer named Cletus Kasady, essentially mixed with... a symbiote."

Tony raised an eyebrow and sat up straighter.  "A symbiote.  Wow.  You know, somehow I already guessed that.  Given his looks and all."  

Steve rested a hand on his husband's shoulder. "A serial killer and a symbiote? Wow. That's a terrible combination."

Bruce nodded. "Just the fact that Pete was able to beat him before is- shocking."

Tony bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah..." he thought back to the time when Peter must have fought him before. The day Peter had ended up in the hospital. The day they should have known.


	8. Chapter 8

Steve and Tony were sat on the couch when they heard the door.  Peter, no doubt, coming home from Ned's house.  Though, it was very late.

"Pete?"  Steve questioned, turning to face the door.  But all he saw was Peter rushing into the hallway to his room.  

"Sorry I'm late!"  He called.  His voice was a bit off, but they didn't fully notice.  "Got lots of homework, love ya!"

Steve and Tony exchanged a look and Tony shrugged.  Steve sighed and they both turned to face the Tv.

"Spider-Man has saved the day once again," The reporter said, the wide newscaster smile present on her face.  "A monster known as Carnage has been disrupting the city's peace and has today been stopped by the amazing Spider-Man.  A terrible amount of damage has been caused by doing so, however."

The Tv switched to pictures of the city, showing the damage caused by Carnage and Spider-Man. There were buildings cracked and what looked like smoke coming from a few.  Tony shook his head.  "That kid is too reckless.  He's too eager.  He is a good kid, but a little much."

Steve laughed and looked at his husband.  "A little much? Really?  You, Tony Stark, are calling someone a little much?"  

"Oh?"  Tony raised an eyebrow.  "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Steve was cut off by the sound of crashing from Peter's room.  Steve and Tony glanced at each other before rushing to Peter's room.  Steve gasped softly when he saw Peter.

Peter was on his bedroom floor, clutching a leg of his bed.  He had his head hung, but he was still visibly bruised and injured.

Tony knelt beside his son.  "Peter?!"  He asked, worried.  "What's wrong?  Steve, call 911.  Quickly!"

"Dad," Peter said as his Pops dialed 911.  "I'm fine.  Really.  Just a-"  he cut himself off with a coughing fit.  "Just a scratch or two," he said, voice slightly hoarse.

Tony shook his head.  "Yeah, no.  I don't believe that for a second, champ."  He helped his son stand up, Peter mostly leaning on him.  Tony lifted his chin so he could see Peter's face and gasped, seeing bruises and what appeared to be... burns?  "Oh my gosh.  What happened to you, Pete?"

"I-I got in a fight."

"That involved burns?  How bad was this 'fight'?  Who was this kid?  You know what?  We'll discuss this later.  Right now, we're getting you to the hospital."

Tony couldn't believe this was happening. His son had been injured this bad in a 'fight'? He didn't believe it. But he couldn't go and ask all those questions now when Peter was seriously injured. 

The ambulance arrived soon after. They quickly grabbed Peter and took him away. Tony went over and held a shaking Steve.

"Who- how did this happen?" Steve asked, less directed at Tony and more at the universe. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Steve," he replied, voice shaking slightly. "I just don't know." He let go of Steve and grabbed his keys and jacket. "Let's go. We need to get to the hospital."

Steve nodded and followed Tony, in shock. 

What had happened to their son?

————————

They now sat in Peter's hospital room. He was bruised and burned all over, breaking Tony and Steve's hearts.  Peter was stable, but still in a lot of pain. 

"What happened, Peter?" Steve asked, the worry noticeable in his voice.  "This obviously wasn't some school-kid fight, Pete."

Peter bit his lip.  "I-I-I got caught up between Carnage and S-Spider-Man," he lied.  "I was on my way back from Ned's, when... I ran into Carnage."

Tony gritted his teeth.  "That son of a-"  Steve glared at Tony, shutting him up.  He cleared his throat.  "How did you... did Spider-Man-"

"Spider-Man soon came around and swung me to safety.  Once he was done with the fight, he swung me home."  

"He waited until after the fight to bring you back?  After?  You were bruised and burned!  You could have died!"

"Well, I mean, he was very busy, and he had to get Carnage defeated before he could make sure I got home or something," Peter said defensively.  "You of all people should know that."

Tony raised an eyebrow.  "Excuse me?"  He sat up straighter. "I-"

Steve shut him up again with a glare and a small kick in the leg. "That doesn't matter right now.  What does matter is that you're okay."

Peter nodded with a sigh. "Yeah... How long did the doctors say I was stuck here for?"

"A few days, at least," Tony said. "Can you blame them? You're hurt pretty bad, bud."

Peter's eyes widened.  "A few days?  No." What about being Spider-Man? He couldn't do that in the hospital. 

"Oh?" Steve said, chuckling softly. "What do you mean no? You got any plans?"

"I-I mean, I've got, um, school." Peter winced at his poor excuse.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that," Tony said, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. "Come on, Pete. You could use the break. You've seemed very stressed lately."

You have no idea, Peter thought. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." he sighed. These few days were going to feel like forever.

"You'll survive somehow, I'm sure."  Steve rested a hand very gently on his son's shoulder.  

They talked a little for a while before Tony and Steve stood up,  grabbing their jackets.  "Love you Pete, but we gotta sleep.  We'll be back tomorrow."

Peter nodded until something dawned on him.  Has he remembered to put his suit away?  "Wait!"  He exclaimed, panicked.

Steve looked at him.  "You okay?  What's wrong?"

"Uh, um, I..." He vaguely remembered hiding his suit before collapsing.  He really hoped his brain wasn’t tricking him. "I love you...?"

Tony glanced at him, slightly suspicious.  "We love you too.  Night, bud."

"Night dad, night pops," Peter said, laying back.

Once they left, Peter sat up and let out a sigh of relief.  His secret was safe.  For now, that is.  Little did he know, his secret would be revealed to his parents, less than a year later.  And the enemy he had just defeated would return, possibly stronger than before.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter now was in his present day hospital room, Ned in the chair beside his bed. 

"I can't believe this happened," Ned said, worried for his best friend. "You've fought him before, haven't you?"

Peter blushed, embarrassed. He was finally stable again and was allowed to have visitors.  His dads were off fighting Carnage, much to Peter's dismay.  

"Please don't go," Peter had begged Steve. "He's crazy. We don't know his weakness and-"

"Pete, we'll be fine," Steve had reassured his son. Tony had not come, angry mostly at himself for last time. "We always win.  We'll be okay.  I promise." And with that, Steve left to fight Carnage with the rest of the Avengers.

"I have," Peter said through gritted teeth to Ned.  "I forgot his weakness.  I'm an idiot."

"No, no no!"  Ned quickly said.  "You're not.  I get it.  Being a hero is stressful, I know.  People forget things all the time - their wallet, their keys, their enemies weaknesses - it happens!"

Peter groaned and sat back. "This is all such a disaster! My dads are going to get hurt, and it's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault, Peter. Don't stress out. That's not going to help anyone."

Peter sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Ned."

Ned nodded. "See, what you really need is a Guy in The Chair."

"A what?"

"A guy in the chair! You know, like in the movies, and he's got all the computers surrounding him, and an earpiece in and is directing the hero and all that," he explained. "Lucky for you, Mr. Parker, I can be that guy in the chair."

Peter laughed. "Guy in the chair? I don't know about that." 

"Come on, Peter! Imagine you're infiltrating an enemy base, and you need someone to direct you through it! Or, or, or there's a group of enemies in the next room ready to fire on you, and-"

Something dawned on Peter. "Fire! That's it!"

"W-what is?" Ned asked, slightly worried. "Fire? What is it?"

"Carnage! Carnage's weakness was extreme heat! I've got to get there! I need to get my suit and get to them!" Peter stood up, wincing slightly.

"What? No! Peter, you're severely injured!" Ned shook his head and rushed over to his friend. "You can't!"

"Ned, if I don't go, they might get hurt, or worse, killed! I need to at least tell them! Ned, please! You need to help me!" Peter begged. He needed to help them.

Very reluctantly, Ned finally said, "Fine! But I really don't like this."

Peter nodded. "Don't worry. I'll make it up to you, I promise.  Now, here's what I need you to do..."

So, Ned was sent back to Stark Tower to get Peter's suit.  After what felt like forever to Peter, Ned came back to Peter's room, folded up Spider-Man suit in his hand.  

"I think your dad has been working on it," Ned observed.  "It was on his desk in his lab."  He passed it over to Peter.

Peter observed it.  "Huh.  Maybe..."  After having Ned leave the room, he changed into the Spider-Man suit, which was, thankfully, no longer covered in blood.  "All clear!"

Ned walked in.  He took in the sight of Peter in the Spider-Man suit.  "I can't believe I'm letting you do this.  Your dads are going to kill me."

Peter slid on the mask.  "Just make sure that no one comes in here.  Do... something.  Thank you so much, Ned."  And with that, he jumped out the window.

It felt nice to swing around, if he ignored the burning pain in his lungs.  He would help his dads and the Avengers, even if it killed him.

——————

Meanwhile, the Avengers were working on defeating Carnage.  They hadn't figured out exactly what his weakness was, but they had a few hunches.  So far?  It was a mess.

Clint was shooting at Carnage, rapid fire, but to no avail.  Tony and Steve was trying to free Natasha from Carnage's grasp.  Bruce was trying to turn into the Hulk.  Thor was throwing Mjolnir at him repeatedly.  

"None of this is working!"  Tony said through gritted teeth.  "Maybe we should-"

He was cut off by a shout from above, saying:

"Hey!  Guess who's back, ugly?!"  

Tony was in shock.  He looked at Steve.  "That can't be..."

Steve was staring up at the figure.  "Peter?!"  He exclaimed.  

"Okay, before you kill me," Peter shouted, stopping and crouching on a nearby building.  He was obviously out of breath, clutching the side of the building.  "I've got his weakness!"

Tony quickly flew up to Peter.  "What is it, Pete?"  He asked through gritted teeth.  "And you are so grounded."

"Yeah, I know," Peter said, voice shaking.  "And it's extreme heat.  That's his weakness.  He's got a lesser weakness, but the heat is most extreme.  That's how I got him last time.  Why I had all of those burns last time."

Tony nodded, thinking. How did he not think of that? “Yes, yes that makes sense."  He smiled softly and quickly said into the earpiece, "It's extreme heat!  That's his weakness!"  He turned back to Peter.  "Thank you so much, Pete.  Now stay here.  You are definitely not doing anything else."

"What?!"  Peter exclaimed.  "But I want to help!"  He tried to stand up, but Tony stopped him.  

"I don't think so," Tony said sternly.  "You are still badly injured.  You are in no shape to fight."  He flew off to fight.

"But-"

"No!"

Peter sighed and sat up, sliding off his mask.   They were fighting in the middle of an empty intersection, not a car, camera or person in sight except for Peter, the Avengers and Carnage.  Carnage couldn't see him, and the Avengers all knew it was him at this point, so why not take it off?  He took deep breaths, his lungs still burning.  He had a pain in his gut for obvious reasons.  He was certainly not in the best shape, but he didn't care.

"I will beat you, Carnage," He said under his breath.  "I swear I will.  No matter what."

He stood up and, holding his side, swung into battle.


	10. Chapter 10

"How are we planning on finishing this guy off?"  Natasha said into her earpiece, now freed from Carnage's grasp.

"Pete said that his weakness is extreme heat," Tony recounted, shooting blasts at Carnage.  "We need some extreme heat source."

"Let's see: we've got a million dollar suit," Natasha said, motioning to Tony.  "We've got a man who has arrows you could potentially set on fire..." She motioned to Clint.  "And you've got the actual God of Thunder."

"Um, yeah, that should do the trick," Steve said, clearing his throat.  "Someone keep him distracted!"

"On it!" Pete said, swinging in. He was slower, being injured and all. He tried to ignore the pain altogether.

"Peter, I don't think so," Tony shouted, looking up at Peter, exasperated. He's too reckless, he thought. He's going to get himself killed! He tried to push that thought away.

He'd had nightmares about that before. About him losing Peter. On worse nights, both Steve and Peter. He would never let that become a reality. 

"Come on! You need someone to help distract him, don't you?" Peter was desperate to help. He wasn't going to let his dads fight without him.

Tony looked at Steve who just sighed and gave him a look that said let him fight now, ground him later. "Alright," He said reluctantly. "But be careful!"

So, Thor, Clint and Tony rushed to Carnage, Steve, Natasha and Bruce standing back. Tony powered up his suit as Clint reached for an arrow and Thor got Mjolnir ready.

"Hey! Clifford the big red slob! Over here!" Peter was swinging around Carnage, effectively distracting him. He shot webs at Carnage's eyes, blinding him momentarily. Carnage swiped blindly for the young hero, angered even more now. 

While Peter distracted Carnage, Tony yelled, "Now!" and Thor, Tony and Clint began shooting their various heat sources at Carnage.

Carnage let out a yell and twisted around, writhing in pain. He hit Peter in his confusion, throwing Peter a ways. He hit the side of a building with a thud and groan. He curled up, in pain.

Tony noticed and hesitated, his fire weakening momentarily.  Please let him be okay, he thought, please let him be okay.  

"I'm on it!" Steve reassured him, rushing to Peter. Tony nodded and redirected his focus back onto his fire.

Carnage tried to get free, but was just stopped by the immense heat.  He writhed in agony and howled.

After a long while, a raspy voice for the fire called, "you... will... never... defeat me!  You... will never... defeat... us!"

"Oh?" Tony spat. "I think we just did." He put all his strength into the final burst, and Thor seemed to do the same.  "You see, this is for Peter!"  

The rest was a blur to everyone. There was a flash of light and soon there was a man - Cletus Kasady - on the ground, curled up. 

Cletus was a skinny man with red hair and dark eyes.  He was a sad sight to see, especially like this.  He was shaking and looking from side to side quickly. 

“Carnage!” He yelled, voice raspy. “Come on, lets show them what we’ve got!” Nothing happened.

Tony glanced over at Steve and Peter.  He longed to be over with them, making sure Peter was okay.  But, he needed to focus on getting everything dealt with before he could check on Peter.  

"Get the authorities," Tony said to Natasha and Bruce. They nodded and rushed off. "Clint, Thor, make sure he doesn't escape." Thor and Clint nodded and went over to Cletus. Thor grabbed the man and held him by the arms.  

"Why, you'd never think a man like this would be a monster like that, would you?"  Thor said, laughing tauntingly.  "Not so powerful now, are you, Carnage?"

"Let go of me, you son of a-" Cletus was cut off by Clint elbowing him in the gut, making him groan and hang his head.  He was still shaking.  Tony thought he heard laughter coming from the man.  He was insane.

The authorities arrived soon. They dragged a thrashing Cletus away, him screaming all the way. His eyes were bloodshot and dark and he wore a terrifying smile on his face.  He had blood coming from a wound on his forehead.  

"I'll be back!" He screamed, kicking and trying to pull his arms away like a toddler being taken away from park. They still managed to keep a firm grip on him.  "You can't beat us!!  Carnage will return!!"

"You think so?"  Tony said, still keeping a reasonable distance.  "I'd beg to differ." He stepped out of his suit and shot Cletus a look to compete with the terror of his smile.

He looked around at the buildings around them as the authorities took him away.  Buildings were burned and there were cracks in the road - mostly from the fighting done before they knew his weakness.  Who knows how long this fight would've been if they hadn't found out?  They'd never win.  

Once he made sure that everything was being dealt with, he rushed over to Peter, who had his mask off and eyes shut. Steve was already sat beside him, trying to help him. He seemed panicked.

"I think he got burnt, Tony. By-by all the heat we had shot at Carnage and-" Steve had tears falling down his cheeks as he did compressions on Peter’s chest. "And then how he was flung and hit the building...He was already hurt bad enough before..."

"Steve? Steve, what are you saying?" Tony asked, worried. He couldn't mean...  Steve then said the words that Tony had never wanted to hear.

"Peter's not breathing, Tony."


	11. Chapter 11

Tony's eyes widened.  His nightmare was becoming a reality.  He couldn't let that happen.  Peter and Steve were the things that kept Tony sane.  If he lost Peter...  He turned quickly to the other Avengers.  "Call-"

"I already have," Steve said, tears steadily streaming down his face.  His son... how could he have let this happen?

Tony nodded and started CPR, in a panicked daze.  Please Pete, Tony thought.  Don't go.  Don't.  We need you.

Before the ambulance arrived, as Tony gave Peter chest compressions, Steve pulled off his suit so he could try to protect Peter’s identity, leaving Peter in the T-shirt and shorts that Ned had brought him in the hospital.

As the ambulance arrived, they took Peter, making Tony pull away and collapse in his husbands arms, a few tears falling down his face. He couldn’t lose his son.

The other Avengers stood back, unsure of what to do.  They were as dazed as Steve and Tony.  They couldn't believe this had happened to Peter.  

"We- we should get to the hospital," Bruce suggested after a long while of them standing there in shock and panic.  

Tony nodded. He stood up and brushed dirt off of his outfit. He needed to stay strong. He blinked back tears. 

"Tony?" Steve said, standing up. "Are you sure? You-"

"I'll be fine," Tony snapped, looking away. "Let's go. Please." He walked away, everyone staring sadly after him.

——————

Once again, they sat in the hospital waiting room they had gotten so used to. Tony was pacing, everyone else sitting down.

"Tony, please," Steve begged.  "Stop pacing.  Sit down.  He'll be fine."  He seemed to be reassuring himself more than Tony.  "He'll be fine..."

Tony shook his head.  "Why did I let him try to distract him?"  He said through gritted teeth.  "I should have just sent him back.  Why on earth would Ned let him leave?"  

"Tony, you beating yourself up about it won't help him," Steve said, standing up and walking over to Tony.  He rested his hand on Tony's arm.

Tony jerked his arm away, surprising Steve.  "It's my fault!  I shouldn't have let him stay!  Now he might be dead!"  He slumped into a chair, fighting back tears.

Steve sat beside him.  "Tony, he would've done it anyway.  Do you think I don't feel the same way?  He would have done this no matter what.  You did not do this to him.  Don't you dare think that."

Before Tony could say anything, a nurse came to them. "Parents of Peter Rogers-Stark, I'm guessing?" Steve and Tony nodded. "Sirs, I'm sorry. Your son is in a coma. Whether he will wake up or not is unclear."

Tony felt nothing but emptiness as those words repeated in his head. Your son is in a coma... whether he will wake up or not is unclear... His mind was racing.

"T-Thank you," Steve said, in shock. "Can we see him?"

The nurse nodded sadly. "Yes. Preferably only one or two at a time, please."

Steve nodded and stood up, offering Tony his hand. "Let's see our son," he said, putting on a ghost of a smile.  He needed to try to stay strong.

Tony hesitated. "I don't know. I shouldn't go. With what happened last time..."  Guilt was overcoming him.  

"Tony, please," Steve said, taking his husband's hand.  "That wasn't your fault.  Come on Tony."

Tony took his hand away.  "No!"  He looked away.  "I can't..."  He wanted to see his son, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

Steve went to say something, but Natasha gave him a look that said ‘give him time’.  Steve sighed and nodded.  "Nat?" He said, voice tight.  "Want to come with to see Peter?"

"Of course."  Natasha stood up.  She and Steve walked to Peter's hospital room.  Upon arrival, they slowly opened the door and stepped in. 

Steve stared at his son, trembling slightly.  He looked somehow worse than before.  He had burns and bruises covering his skin.  He looked absolutely terrible.  

Steve stood at the door, eyes widened.  His son... broken and burned.  He felt a wave of a guilt crash over him.  Natasha rested a hand on his arm and gave him a comforting look.  He took a deep breath and walked over to the seat next to Peter's bed.

"Hey bud," he said quietly, knowing he probably couldn't hear him.  "How you feeling?"  He looked at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.  "Obviously not too well."

Natasha stood next to Steve's chair, leaning against the wall.  She smiled sadly and looked down at Peter.

"We're very worried," Steve continued, leaning back and folding his arms, continuing to stare at the ceiling.  "Your dad is really beating himself up about this.  I'm very worried about him."  Tears threatened to spill.  "He loves you with all his heart.  We both do."

Steve hunched over and held his head in his hands.  "I don't know what we'd do without you.  You're-you're what keeps us sane.  I don't know what I'd do if you..." He shook his head.  "Please come back, Pete.  We love you.  We miss you."

What Steve didn't know, was that Tony was inside the room, standing by the door.  He had slipped in and Natasha, upon seeing him enter, snuck out.  He held back tears and walked over to Steve.  He rested a hand on Steve's shoulder, making Steve jump.  He looked up at Tony and tried to give a faint smile.

Tony looked down at Steve and kissed his forehead, then looked at Peter.  He was at a loss for words.  It's not your fault, he tried to remind himself.  It's not your fault.  He sat down beside Steve and kept his eyes on Peter.

"He will wake up," Steve insisted quietly.  "I know he will."  He looked at Tony and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.  

Tony nodded, wanting to believe it himself.  They couldn't lose Peter.  They wouldn't lose Peter.  Not like this.

They sat there together, for who knows how long before a nurse came in, alerting them that visiting hours were over.  They nodded and stood up. They looked at Peter once more before leaving the room, wishing they could stay there and be with their son until he woke up and assure him everything would be okay.  But life doesn't work like that, does it?


	12. Chapter 12

It had been almost a week. They were losing hope. "He will wake up," Steve always reassured Tony and himself. But, with every passing day, he wondered more and more if that was really true.

Tony and Steve were sat in Peter's hospital room again. They hadn't slept in days. Well, more of they hadn't slept well in days. 

Tony's nightmares had gotten worse. With Peter in a coma, his nightmares were already close to becoming a reality. 

Steve hadn't slept for over an hour in the past week, worry keeping him up. And, knowing how bad Tony's nightmares were, he wanted - no, needed to be up to help him. 

On his bedside table were little cards from some of his friends, the biggest one being from Ned, who felt very guilty about the whole thing.  

Ned had came by a few days earlier. He had apologized so much for letting Peter go to fight. And you can only imagine how hard it is to have to apologize to Captain America and Ironman for letting their hero son go fight with them. "He was worried for you guys!" He had told them. "He wanted to be there and to warn you!"

Steve assured him it was okay, Tony staying silent. "He would've found a way to do it anyways. It's alright, Ned."

Ned had thanked them and stayed for a while to drop of his card and see his best friend. He had left quickly afterwards, obviously shaken up by his friend’s sorry state.

Tony was accidentally starting to fall asleep, head on Steve's shoulder. Steve smiled softly and let his husband sleep on him. 

After a while, he took in a deep breath and muttered, "Please come back, Pete. You're panicking us. We'll be... we'll be lost without you."

He looked down and sighed. He had to face it. His son was most likely gone, as much as he really hated to admit it. He let a tear fall and rested his hand gently on top of Peter's. "I'm sorry, Pete. This is our fault."

He stayed silent until he felt something that made him jerk his head up. He had felt Peter's hand move. He shook Tony awake.

"Woah woah woah! I'm up, I'm up," Tony said, surprised. "What is it?"  He looked around, worried.

"I think... I think Peter's hand moved." Steve bit his lip and looked at Tony, hoping he'd believe him. He wondered if his mind was tricking him.  

Tony sighed.  He wanted to believe Steve, but he couldn't. "Steve, I don't think so. We're both tired and Pete-"

But Tony cut himself off when he saw Peter's hands move more noticeably. He gasped softly and stood up. "Peter?"

There was a low moan and Peter's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Pops... dad?" He said, voice hoarse.

Tears came to their eyes.  "Oh Pete,"  Steve said, surprised.  They automatically attacked him with a hug.

"woah!  I love you guys, but - ow, ow ow."  He winced as they accidentally touched his bruises and burns.

Tony and Steve nodded.  Tony laughed softly.  "Sorry, Pete.  God, thank goodness you're awake."  He wiped at his eyes.

Steve looked between Tony and Peter.  "I'll go get a doctor and let everyone know."  And with that, he left the room.  

Tony looked back at Peter, at a loss for words.  He tried to think of something to say.  What was he supposed to say?  ‘So, how was your coma that happened because you're freaking Spider-Man?’

Peter eventually spoke up, head down.  "I'm sorry.  I should have told you guys earlier.  And I should've just waited on the roof like you told me to.  I'm sorry I scared you."

Tony stared for a moment before speaking up.  "No, no, no Peter.  You shouldn't be sorry.  You were just trying to save the day.  Granted, you didn't choose the best way to do so..."  he looked at the ceiling and sighed softly.  "I'm just glad you're okay.  You had us really worried.  I don't know what we'd do without you."

Peter nodded, looking up at his dad.  He felt bad for having scared his dad and pops.  Guilt ate at him.

Tony came over to him and hugged him very gently.  "I love you, bud," he said quietly.  He was thankful that Peter was back and tried to ignore the guilt that still lingered.

"Love you too, dad,"  Peter said, smiling softly.

"Just promise me one thing?"

"Of course."

"Never do that to me and your pops ever again."

Peter laughed softly.  "I'll try not to."

"Try?  Nah, just don't do it."  Tony laughed.  He stood back up as a few nurses and the rest of the Avengers came in.  The nurses began fussing over Peter.  

Peter smiled wider upon seeing the other Avengers.  He sat up as best as he could with the nurses surrounding him.  "Guys!   Pops!"

"How you feeling, Peter?"  Thor asked, standing with the others in the back of the room.

"I'm doing okay.  How are you all allowed to be in here?  I thought only about two could come at a time?" Peter knew this from his few hospitalizations he had had before.

"Yes, usually," Natasha said with a grin.  "It did take a little convincing."  Peter thought he noticed her slipping a sharp object back into her pocket but decided to not say anything. 

"I'm just glad you're all here,"  Peter said, his voice still somewhat hoarse.  The nurses stopped fussing with him except for one who was just writing stuff down on a clipboard.

"And we're all glad you're okay."  Steve walked over to Peter's bed and hugged him gently from the side that the nurse wasn't on.  "That's all that matters."

And so they talked and talked for a while until the a nurse chirped in and said that Peter needed rest and everyone needed to leave.  

So they all left after saying various goodbyes.  They all had smiles on their faces, happy that everything had worked out.  Peter was awake, Carnage was behind bars - everything was okay.

But little did they know that their fight had just begun.


	13. Chapter 13

The Avengers were all over Stark tower. Tony and Bruce were in Tony's lab, working on something. Clint and Natasha were up in the Tv room, fighting over what to watch. Thor was probably off flexing or working out. Steve was off to finally bring Peter home. It had been weeks. 

When Tony got a text from Steve saying they were on their way back, he bolted up to the Tv room, leaving Bruce in his dust. His son was finally coming home. "Everyone meet in the Tv room!" He yelled as he rushed up there.

Once everyone was in the Tv room, they sat in there and talked, excitement brewing inside them. Peter was coming back home.

A few minutes later, they heard a door open and close and everyone went silent. Then, in walked Peter Rogers-Stark. He still had a few stray burns and bruises, but other than that, he was doing alright. Thank the heavens for superhealing abilities. 

"Hey," Peter said quietly. He had a small smile on his face. "I'm back."

Tony was the first to stand, Steve already standing. He rushed over to Peter and gave him a huge hug. "Welcome home, Pete."

Peter hugged back quickly.  "It's great to be home."  They pulled Steve into the hug and they all three stood there in each other's arms for a long while.  After they finished hugging, Peter went to the other Avengers, greeting and hugging them.  It had been a long time since they were all together and not in the hospital or nearly dying.  

"Who wants to watch a movie to celebrate Peter's arrival?"  Clint asked, looking at Peter.  People murmured in agreement.  

"I do!"  Peter quickly chimed in.  "I haven't watched a good movie in so long."  He sat on the couch. Steve and Tony sitting beside him.  "What we watching?"

"This is what we were just arguing about," Clint said, motioning over to Natasha.  "She says that we should watch The Impossible.  I say we should watch In The Heart Of The Sea."

"Why don't we let Peter decide?" Natasha suggested, laughing a little.  "Which do you prefer, Pete?  Or neither?"

Peter thought for a moment.  "Hm... they're both great movies, but today I'm gonna have to say Heart Of The Sea."  He looked at Natasha with a smile.  "Sorry, Aunt Natasha."

Natasha shook her head.  "Traitor," she muttered, smiling softly back.  "Guess we're watching Heart Of The Sea."  

And so, they turned on Heart Of The Sea, talking all the while.

"Hey, Tom Holland and Chris Hemsworth look a lot like the two of you," Clint said, looking at Thor and Peter.

"What?"  Thor said, eyebrow arched.  "I don't see it."

"Neither do I?"  Peter said with a laugh.  "I'm definitely more attractive."  He winked playfully, making the adults in the room laugh.

"Sure, Pete," Clint said, rolling his eyes a little.  

They finished the movie late that night.  Peter had dozed off, head on Tony's lap.  The other Avengers were getting ready to leave.

"Someone's tired," Bruce remarked.  He had his coat over one arm and Natasha's arm on the other.

"He's been through a lot," Steve said quietly, looking down at his son.  He looked so peaceful.  "He deserves some rest."

Bruce nodded. They all said their goodbyes and left, leaving Steve, Tony and a sleeping Peter in the now silent Stark Tower. Tony ran a hand through his son's hair mindlessly. He was over the moon. Peter was back.

"He looks so peaceful," Tony said, sighing happily. "I don't want to disturb him by getting up."

Steve nodded. "I've got it." Gently, he picked up Peter, bridal style. Peter stayed asleep, readjusting in Steve's arms. He smiled softly in his sleep, making Steve's heart melt. He carried Peter slowly into his room, Tony walking beside him. 

"He's getting a bit big to be carried, isn't he?" Tony said, laughing quietly. 

"I don't know," Steve replied with a small shrug. "He's still pretty light." 

They got into the room and Steve set Peter gently down on the bed after Tony pulled back the covers. Tony set the covers back over Peter and he and Steve went back to the door. They glanced back at Peter one more time before leaving, closing the door softly behind them. They walked back to the couch and sat down. Tony laid down, his head on Steve's lap.

"My turn," Tony said with a grin.

"Now don't you go and fall asleep on me," Steve laughed.

"And have an excuse for you to carry me?" Tony said with a look of fake confusion on his face. "Never."

Steve smirked softly. He stood up, picking up Tony in the process. He walked to the bedroom, holding Tony bridal style as well. When they arrived in the room, Steve plopped Tony down onto the bed and laid down beside him. 

They laid there for a while, laughing, until a question came to Steve. He turned and looked at Tony and asked, "When are you going to tell him?"

Tony sighed softly. "I don't know. Soon. He just got back. I don't want to just... I don't know, spring it on him." He ran a hand absentmindedly through his hair.

"Well you are going to have to tell him soon," Steve said. "He'll find out sooner or later, somehow." 

"Yeah, I know." Tony looked at the ceiling. "He's gonna hate me." 

Steve shook his head. "He couldn't. Hopefully, he'll understand. He knows we love him and that that's why."

"Hopefully," Tony repeated before turning over. 

Steve sighed. He hoped Peter would understand. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Peter woke up late the next morning.  He yawned and sat up, looking around his room.  It looked exactly the same as it had before.  Well, some of the trash he had left laying around before had been taken care of, but other than that, it hadn't changed.  

He stood up and got dressed slowly, still being a bit sore.  He looked at the time and realized he'd be late for school if he didn't hurry up a bit. He headed out to the kitchen, his dads already at the table. They perked up a bit upon seeing Peter.

"Hey Pete," Steve said with a smile. "You sleep okay?"

Peter nodded, yawning. "Yeah. Thanks for bringing me to my room." He grabbed a croissant and sat down, stealing a sip of his dads coffee. 

Steve nodded, drinking his own coffee. "No problem."

Tony snatched his coffee back. He shot Peter a playful glare and drank his coffee. "You looked so peaceful, we didn't want to wake you."

Peter smiled and ate his croissant. He talked with his dad and pops for a while before finally looking at the time. "Oh jeez," he laughed. "I lost track of time. I'm late for school."

Steve shook his head. "You start going back tomorrow," he said, standing up. "You sure have missed a lot. Have a lot to catch up on."

Peter groaned. "Don't remind me. Ugh, this is gonna be awful." He stood up as well and headed to the Tv room.

"If it would help," Tony said, standing up and putting dishes away. "I could always... find a way to lessen the schoolwork, if you know what I'm saying." He winked and sat over by Peter.

Peter was about to say something along the lines of sign me up! when Steve quickly cut in, "Nope. Pete's a good student and can manage without us bribing his teachers, can't you, Pete?" He sat beside Tony, shooting him a sharp look.

"Aw, do I have to?" Peter whined, really liking his dad's bribing idea. "It's a lot of work."

"You'll survive somehow, I guess," Tony muttered. "But if all else fails.."

"No, Tony."

"Worth a shot."

He flicked on the Tv and began to flick through the channels. He continued to do so until he got to the news. He was just about to change the channel, when he heard a familiar name on the news.

"Spider-Man has been missing for weeks now, and the crime rate has gone up a considerable amount," the lady on the news said. "He was said to have been last seen fighting Carnage, who, as most of you know, has been properly dealt with.

Peter's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't thought of the Spider-Man situation, strangely enough. With everything that had happened, he hadn't thought of that. He wondered where his suit was...

As he went to focus back on the Tv, he was soon surprised by Tony turning off the Tv. Peter looked at Tony, confused, to which he just coolly replied, "You should go and study. You have a lot of work to catch up on, right?"

Peter was a bit taken aback. "I just- I just thought that- I just got back and-" He didn't know what to say. He had just gotten back and now he was getting sent to his room to study?

Steve looked at Peter after glancing quickly at Tony and said sympathetically, "Can you go to your room real quick? Your dad and I need to talk, and it will only take a minute."

Peter nodded, still confused. What was going on? He stood up and walked to his room with a sigh. He left the door open and flopped onto his bed, immediately regretting it as he felt the pain in his body increase. He winced and sat up. He tried to listen in a little bit as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why can't you just tell him?" Steve said, exasperated. "Why can't you just rip off the bandaid?"

"Uh, have you tried telling your son something like this?" Tony retaliated, almost shouting. "No? I didn't think so!"

Peter pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, sighing softly. He hated when they fought. They didn't fight bad too often, but when they did, it wasn't pretty.

"If you don't tell him, he's most definitely going to find out himself! How could he not, Tony?!"

Peter hung his head. What on earth were they talking about? He debated confronting them about it.

"Well guess what? It's kind of hard when you know your son is going to hate you for doing so!" Peter was very confused and worried. What could he hate his dad about? 

"Don't you think I know that? He's going to hate me too, you know. He deserves for you to tell him for heaven sake!" 

Peter couldn't take it. He stood up and rushed out to the Tv room. Steve and Tony were now standing. "Please!" He shouted, standing between the two. "What is it?"

"Peter, stay out of this!" Tony said through gritted teeth. He tried to calm down for his son, Steve trying to do the same.

"No! I know you're talking about me! What is it? What would I hate you for?" Peter felt tears threaten to spill. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Tony sighed. "Fine. You want to know what's going on?"

Peter nodded. "Yes!" Had he not made that clear?

Tony inhaled deeply, obviously distressed. "Fine. Look. Peter, we're taking your suit away. You can't be Spider-Man anymore."


	15. Chapter 15

Peter stood there, in shock. "What? You can't do that!"

"Can't I? I thought I just did." Tony wore a tired, distressed look. "Look Pete, I want you to be safe. Look what Carnage did to you!"

"You did it, too!" Peter blurted. "The burns, remember?"

Tony nodded sadly. "I know. Don't you think I blame myself enough for that without you reminding me?"

Peter felt more tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Tony said with a sigh. "Peter, I want what's best for you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"What if I go without the suit?" Peter retorted.  "Wouldn't I just get hurt more?"  

"You'll be picked up by me, your pops or Happy after school."  Tony felt guilt building up more and more.  "Look, Pete.  The picking up thing is just for a while and-"

"You were all for having Spider-Man join the Avengers before!" Peter shot back, interrupting him. 

"That was before we realized it was our son!"

Peter looked at Steve, who had been keeping silent this whole time.  "Pops!  You can't be serious.  Please, don't do this!"  Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Steve just shook his head sadly.  "I'm sorry, Pete.  We love you, which is why we don't want you to get hurt!  If you're Spider-Man, you might get gravely injured.  You've almost died, Pete!"

Peter couldn't believe this. His world was crumbling. "Please! I'm nothing without this suit!"

Tony shook his head. "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."

Peter had a defeated look on his face. "I-I just wanted to be like you."

Steve sighed. "And we wanted you to be better." He shook his head.

Peter shook his head and stormed to his room, filled with anger. How could they do this to him? They were taking away his freedom. It distracted him from everything. From the bullies that harassed him because of his dads, from the times when his dads were off fighting with the Avengers - everything. It was his outlet.

He collapsed onto his bed and let tears fall. They couldn't do this to him. He debated going out and running off again, maybe swing around without the suit, but then he thought more about it. What if someone he knew - or didn't know for that matter - saw his face and realized he was Spider-Man? He couldn't risk that, could he?

His dads came every so often, knocking on the door. He wouldn't let them in. He couldn't. Not after what they had done. After what they had taken away.

——————

Peter woke up early the next morning. He did not want to talk to his dads. Not after yesterday. He got dressed as quickly as he could and rushed out. He cursed under his breath, seeing his pops. 

Steve was sat at the table, coffee in front of him. "Hey bud..." Steve said softly. Peter didn't say anything and grabbed something small to eat. Steve sighed. "Peter, please. I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to come to this. We're just worried about you."

"Then you shouldn't have taken away my suit," he muttered, grabbing his bag and heading to the door. 

Steve stood up. "Do you want me to drop you off?" He went to grab his keys.

"I'll be fine," Peter said sharply, opening the door. He heard his pops begin to speak but didn't listen and closed the door, beginning his walk to school.

It was a boring walk, filled with lots of rock kicking and a few kids from school teasing him as he walked. 

When he did arrive, he was surprised as soon as he walked in. When he walked in, most people went quiet. He looked around as he walked in. Some people whispered as he passed.

A wave of worry passed over him. Did they know he was Spider-Man? No. They couldn't. His questions were answered when he heard a girl whisper to her friend, "He's been gone for weeks! There was a rumor that he died."

Peter sighed. Ah. His very long absence had been the cause of the quiet. They found anything interesting here at Midtown Tech. He went to his locker where Ned was standing.

"Hey, Pete..." Ned said, a bit of sympathy in his voice. Peter had texted Ned and told him what his dads had done last night. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and was working off of three hours of sleep.

"Hey," Peter said plainly, opening his locker.  He still heard whispers and leaned his head against the locker.

"Just ignore them, Pete.  They find anything as interesting or something to gossip about.  Tomorrow, it'll all blow over and someone else will be the center of attention.  I'm pretty sure most people are jealous."

Peter gave him a look.  "Jealous?"

Ned quickly said, "Well, I mean, you did miss a few weeks of school, so that's something to be jealous of."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna have to make up that work."  Peter groaned and closed his locker as the bell rang.  He walked with Ned to their first class.

"Well, the teachers will probably go easy on you and get rid of some of the work.  We didn't work on too much, anyways.  Well, definitely not much new."

Peter nodded.  "Yeah, hopefully."  He appreciated Ned not talking about his suit getting taken away.  He needed to be distracted from it.  

Together, him and Ned walked into the first class of the day, ready to try to distract himself from everything going on.


	16. Chapter 16

Peter walked out of the school, staying silent and gripping his backpack. He had his head hung.  He wondered if he could get off the school property before his dad, pops, or Happy showed up, but just as he thought so, he heard a car honk it's horn.  He sighed and looked up over at the car that most definitely was driven by his dad.

Peter sighed.  He pushed through the crowd of people and quickly got into the back of his Pops' car.  He threw his backpack onto the seat beside him, keeping his head down.

Steve and Peter both stayed silent until Steve  eventually asked, "how was school, bud?"

Peter didn't respond for a while. "It was fine," he finally muttered. He stared at his lap.

Steve sighed and nodded. He started the car and began the drive back to Stark Tower. Him and Peter stayed silent the whole ride.

Once they arrived, Peter quickly headed to his room, not looking at his Pops. He passed Tony, who went to say something, but Peter ignored him. He slammed his door, finally allowing himself to look up.

He started on his homework, pencil shaking from his anger. He groaned and threw his pencil down, laying back. He had a huge backpack full of homework that he had to get done. Some of his teachers had gone easy on him, lightening his load, but others didn't budge, seeming upset that he had missed so much.

He had been working on his homework for an hour or so until he heard the door begin to open. He quickly hung his head again.

His dad walked in. "Hey bud..." He closed the door gently. "How you feeling?" Peter didn't answer. Tony sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

Peter turned away, not wanting his dad to see his face. 

"Pete," Tony said, distress noticeable in his voice. "Please. Talk to me. Look at me."

Peter sighed. They were going to see it soon anyways. He looked at his dad and Tony was shocked to see that Peter had a black eye.

Tony gasped softly. "How did this happen?" He asked, a look of sympathy and confusion on his face. 

"Just some kid at school," Peter mumbled, not meeting his dad's gaze. It had been Flash. He had been tormenting him about his dads again and Peter, having been in a bad mood, had fought back, resulting in getting his black eye. Of course, Peter couldn’t attack too well. To Flash, he was still the scrawny kid who was easy to pick on, not the kid who could break his nose if he wanted to.

Tony inspected his eye, worried for Peter. "What happened?  Why'd he do that?"

"Why do you think?!" Peter snapped.  He looked down, moving away from his dad.  He was still very angry about Tony stopping him from being Spider-Man.

Tony moved back, shocked.  "I-I'm sorry, Pete.  And I know you're definitely still upset from the whole... Spider-Man thing..."

Peter kept his gaze down.  "Just go away!"  He fought back the tears threatening to spill.  "Please."

Tony sighed, defeated.  "Alright.  I love you, Pete."  He left the room, hesitating in the doorway.  He closed the door softly behind him.

Peter sat on his bed, head in his hands.  His world was crumbling.  He wasn't Spider-Man, he wasn't speaking to his dads, Flash somehow seemed worse than before... it was mess.

He sighed and looked to the pile of homework on his desk.  He groaned and went to his desk.  It was a good distraction, anyways.  He worked and worked until late into the night. He ended up falling asleep at his desk, homework still unfinished.  

Steve came in around two a.m.  He saw Peter asleep at his desk and frowned upon seeing the black eye.  He shook his head and walked over to the desk.  He picked up Peter and set him in his bed.  He kissed Peter's forehead and left the room.  

He sat down beside Tony and sighed.  "He's going to work himself to death," he said, shaking his head.  "Maybe that bribing idea wasn't so bad."

Tony nodded.  "He's got a lot to deal with already, and then we take away him being Spider-Man..." he laid his head back.  "God, I feel awful."

Steve hesitated before saying, "Was this a bad idea?  It was a bad idea.  We should-"

Tony cut him off.  "We can't.  Carnage... Carnage nearly killed him, Steve.  I don't want to risk that happening again.” Tony paused. “Let's not argue about this now, okay?  It's late."

Steve sighed.  "Alright."  He didn't want to argue about this now either.  But you could bet that he was going to bring this up later.

Was he worried about his son fighting crime? Of course! It terrified him. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t see how much Peter needed this. It was a battle with himself over what to do, and it was hard to tell who was winning at times. 

They stayed up a while longer, watching Tv until four a.m.  Steve eventually went to bed, leaving Tony in the Tv room.  

Tony sat there, lost in his thoughts.  He started to question himself.  What if Steve was right?  He shook his head.  No.  Peter was going to get hurt if he kept being Spider-Man.  Even worse, he could die.  Tony would not let that happen.

He must have dozed off at some point, because he was soon woken up by the sound of the door.  He turned and saw the back of Peter as he left for school, closing the door behind him. Tony sighed and stood up, rubbing his eyes.  He went to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee.  He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee.

He thought back to how Peter acted last night.  He had acted a bit rash, but could you blame him?  Everything had changed in a matter of weeks.

Tony was brought out of his thoughts by Steve coming out to the kitchen.  Before he could say anything, Steve quickly said:

"Suit up, Tones.  We've got a mission."


	17. Chapter 17

Peter walked outside the school, eyes cast down.  He could still hear Flash taunting him as he walked over to the car that was waiting for him.  He entered the car and saw Happy sitting in the drivers seat.

"Hey kid," Happy said, glancing back at Peter.  Happy was Tony's head of security, and Peter couldn't remember him not being there.

"Hey Happy," Peter said quietly.  He had somewhat expected his dad or pops to come.   He was about to ask when Happy said:

"They're out on a mission."

Peter nodded, sighing.  Of course they were on a mission.  Just because Peter was stuck without his ability to be a superhero didn't mean that his dads couldn't go on missions.  He stared out the window as they drove until they arrived.  

He immediately went into his room, Happy staying down with the car to leave Tony a message.  He grabbed the pile of homework on his desk and began to work on it, also trying to distract himself from the fact that his dads were off fighting crime while he was stuck at home.  

He groaned and threw his pencil at the wall.  This sucked.  He wanted to be out, fighting crime again.  Not working on homework.  He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the pencil on the ground for a few minutes before getting up and grabbing it again.

He worked like this for hours until he heard the door open.  He heard talking - the Avengers.  They were back from the mission.  Peter hesitated before leaving his room, quietly heading out to the hallway.  He saw Clint being rushed away on a stretcher and Tony and Bruce were already gone - probably in the lab.  

Thor noticed Peter, making Peter want to shrink back into his room.  "Ah, hello Peter,"  Thor said, making Natasha and Steve look at him.  

Peter muttered a hello.  "How'd the mission go?"  He asked, walking out of the hall, still avoiding Steve's gaze.

"It went... fine," Natasha said plainly.  "I think something might have happened to your dad, but he doesn't want to share anything."

Peter's eyes widened slightly.  "Oh?"  He couldn't help but feel bad for his dad.  He grabbed a cup of water and sipped it slowly.

Thor nodded.  "But, we did get the scepter, so it was an overall success!"  

Peter nearly choked on his water.  "The scepter?  As in Loki's scepter?"  He remembered back when they fought Loki before.  It had been... four years ago?  He had been ten or so, and hadn't become Spider-Man yet.  Him, being the ten year old he was, begged his dads to let him help.

"I can do it!"  Peter had begged, holding his dads arm.  "Let me help you!"

"Maybe next time, Pete," Steve had said with a laugh.  Needless to say, next time never came.

Steve nodded.  He sighed and motioned in the direction of the lab. "Your dad and Bruce are probably toying with it now."

Peter nodded, still not looking at his Pops. He looked in the direction of the lab. "Ah.  Course they are."

"Yes, then I will take it back to Asgard in a few days," Thor said, setting down Mjolnir.  "After that little party we're having."

Peter nodded. Steve started to say something, but then Peter just set his cup down and headed back to his room. "Well, you all have fun. With your superhero stuff." He left the door open a crack as he went in, making it so he could hear what they said.  

Steve sighed and looked over at Natasha and Thor, who were looking right back at him.

"He's taking it that bad, huh?" Natasha said, shaking her head.

"I can't blame him," Steve said, looking at Peter's door. "I'm not so sure if this is a good idea. I tried to bring it up to Tony, but he avoided the subject.  And then with Peter just not talking to either of us..."

"Speaking of Tony," Thor said, changing the subject. "Do you have any idea of what could have happened at the mission? He seemed kinda... off, afterwards."

Steve shook his head, looking back at Thor. "No. I tried to ask about it, but he just said 'it's nothing.' I wonder if it was that girl there..." 

"Who was she, anyway? And that boy?" Natasha asked, messing with Peter's glass. 

"Hill told me about them. Long story short, they were twins whose parents got killed in a... Stark... bombing, and then had experiments done on them," Steve explained. "He's fast and she's weird."

Natasha nodded. "Ah."  She dumped Peter's glass in the sink and looked at Thor.  "After Bruce and Tony finish toying with it, the scepter goes back to Asgard?"

Thor nodded.  "Yes.  I will bring it back to Asgard after this little... celebration we have."  

Steve nodded.  They continued to talk for a while - about the mission, about Peter, about a whole lot of things - but Peter zoned out after that.  He closed the door gently and sat back down on his bed.

Loki's scepter was there?  There were weird twins and... what??  He wanted to be there.  He wanted to be fighting with his parents, not fighting with his parents, if that makes sense.  He wanted to be Spider-Man again, able to swing around and save the day.  Not just some teen stuck in his room, doing homework.

He felt somewhat bad for his dad.  What had happened on that mission?  He was still angry about everything, but that didn't mean that he couldn't feel sorry for him or worry.

He brightened up a little when he remembered what his Pops had said.  He had been trying to talk to his Dad about letting him be Spider-Man.  He smiled softly.  He prayed that Steve would be able to convince him.  

Peter laid back.  He wondered if his pops would get through to his dad as he began to drift off to sleep, having no idea what would happen in just a few days.


	18. Chapter 18

Peter was in his room, working on homework like always. He could barely focus, thinking back to what his pops had said the other day about talking to his dad. As far as he could tell, nothing had been brought up about the subject. But one could hope, right?

Peter was brought out of his thoughts by his pops entering the room. "Hey bud," he said, standing near the door. Lots of people could be heard talking throughout the tower.

"Hey," he mumbled, looking at his Pops. "How's the party?"

"It's going fine," Steve said, surprised that Peter was actually talking to him. "I was actually hoping that you could come out and join us." 

Peter was about to say something, most likely no, but then Steve continued, "I think it would be best. For you, for the other Avengers-"

"For the press," Peter muttered. 

Steve just gave him a look. "Look, if you won't do it for me, do it for your dad. He still seems shaken up from the mission and won't talk to anyone about it. Not even me," he said with a sigh. "I know you're mad at him, but he did do it because he cares about you. We both do."

Peter looked down. "Yeah, I know." He wasn't as angry as he was before, knowing that there was a chance he could become Spider-Man. But he still was upset. "I'll be there soon, Pops."

Steve smiled softly. "Thank you, Pete. I'll see you out there." He left the room. 

Peter sighed and stood up. He went to his closet, grabbing a pair of black jeans and a white button up. He changed before leaving his room and surveying the crowd that lay before him.

He saw Rhodey telling a story to an unamused Tony and Thor, Bruce and Natasha flirting at the bar, and everyone else just talking.  He took a deep breath before plastering on a smile and walking into the crowd.

He immediately wished Ned or MJ were there after being stuck talking to a group of teens who had snuck in that had strangely weird and personal questions about the Avengers. No, Thor wasn’t obsessed with Pop-Tarts. No, Clint climb around in the vents. Not anymore, at least. No, Natasha was not single. He had just barely snuck away unseen when they began to argue about what it meant to be worthy. Nerds.

It was an interesting party.  Rhodey told the story again, getting a much better response from people who weren't superheroes.  Some old man got dragged out after drinking some drink Thor had. Sam, who had already had too much to drink, teamed up with Clint to tease Peter. Fun times.

“You actually decided to join,” Sam remarked, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Did math homework get too boring?”

“Nah, it couldn’t. The math is Peter’s favorite part, the nerd,” Clint said, drawing out the word ‘nerd.’

“Thanks guys, really glad I came out here,” Peter said, shaking his head. “Maybe I should just go and do my homework again if it’s so interesting.”

“Woah, who said you had to leave?” Sam tightened his grip. “Stay, nerd! Meet people! In fact...” he looked around the room before pushing Peter into a woman his age

“You got this, nerd!”

Peter barely got to say an apology before she left. Smooth, Parker. This is why he stuck with Ned and MJ and wished they could free him from this.

He spent the next few hours just walking around, occasionally talking with an Avenger or two.

Later, after the party, the Avengers, Sam, Rhodey, Peter, Agent Hill and Doctor Cho gathered, sitting around on couches. They were laughing and talking, some of them seeming as if they drank a little too much. 

“I’m telling you,” Sam said to Tony. “It doesn’t make sense! There isn’t just one definition of worthy. Worthy of what? It doesn’t make sense!”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Tony said, glancing back at the amused Thor. “I feel the same way.”

“You guys just say that because you’re sad you aren’t worthy,” Peter suggested.

"But it's a trick!" Clint exclaimed.

"No no," Thor said, shaking his head.  "It's much more than that."

"'Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall have the the power.'"  Clint rolled his eyes, smiling.  "Whatever, man!  It's a trick!"

"Please," Thor chuckled, setting the hammer on the coffee table.  "Be my guest."  

Clint raised an eyebrow.  "Really?"  He stood up.  Everyone quickly chimed in with 'yeahs,' and 'oh this is gonna be good.'  

"You've had a tough week," Peter laughed.  "We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."  Clint just shot him a glare and went to pick up the hammer.

When he failed after pulling with all his might, he just laughed and shook his head.  "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Smell the silent judgement?"  Tony asked, smirking.

"Please, Tony, by all means," Clint said, stepping away from Mjolnir.

Tony got up, causing 'oohs' from the group.  "Never one to shrink from a challenge."  He went to Mjolnir.  "It's physics.  So, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"

Thor nodded.  "Yes, of course."  

Tony nodded.  He tried for a while before letting go.  He looked at the group.  "I'll be right back."  He left and quickly came back with the arm of his Ironman suit.  He failed upon pulling with the suit arm as well.  He even got Rhodey to help with the War Machine arm, but they both failed.

After Tony, Bruce tried, failing.  After him, Steve went.

"Go ahead, Steve," Tony said, cheering his husband jokingly on.  "If you lift it, I'm technically Asgardian royalty.  No pressure."  Steve just winked at Tony and grabbed Mjolnir, causing Peter to let out a fake gag. 

Steve attempted to lift the hammer.  Peter's eyes widened a little as he noticed the hammer move slightly.  He looked at Thor, who had noticed as well and was staring at the hammer, as if willing it to not move.

Steve eventually gave up and let go, heading back to his seat beside Tony.  "Your turn, Pete," Steve said, looking at Peter.  

Peter blushed, slightly embarrassed.  "No, I couldn't. I-"

The group started to urge him on.  "C'mon, Pete, think of the Asgardian Royalty!"  Steve reminded him with a laugh, arm around Tony.

Peter laughed softly.  "Alright, alright."  He stood up and walked over to Mjolnir.  He gripped the handle and tested it.  He was surprised to find it lighter than he expected.  He smiled softly and was about to lift it when he remembered what had happened when his Pops almost lifted it.  He'd rather not have Thor kill him. Instead, he settled for bringing it up like his Pops, barely moving.  
   
He let go, hands going in the air.  "Guess I'm not worthy."  He sat down, Tony giving him a suspicious look and Thor staring at him.

Bruce looked at Natasha.  "What about you?"  He said with a smile.

"Oh, no, no," Natasha said with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink.  "That's not a question I need answered."

"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King," Tony said, grabbing his glass.  "but it's rigged.  The handles imprinted, right?  Like a security code.  'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation."

Thor nodded, standing up.  "Yes, it's a very, very interesting theory.  I have a simpler one," he grabbed Mjolnir and spun it.  "You're all not worthy."

Everyone booed him and groaned, laughing a little.  They insisted that it was a trick until they heard a high pitched whine.  Everyone went quiet.  Peter covered his ears, confused.  He looked around, slowly taking his hands off of his ears as the whine stopped.

"Worthy," he heard a raspy voice call.  He looked at the source of the speaking and saw a robot - one of his dads, half destroyed with wires hanging loose.  "No.  How could you be worthy?  You're all killers."


	19. Chapter 19

Peter looked at Tony, confused.  "Dad?"  What was this... thing?  It was obviously something his dad had made.

Tony stared at it, confused.  "Jarvis?"  He questioned, referring to his AI assistant.  No response.  He pulled a device out of his pocket.  

"I'm sorry, I was asleep," the robot said, jerking his head around, as if taking everything in.  "Or I was a- dream." 

"Reboot Legionnaire OS," Tony muttered, tapping at the device in his hand.  "We got a buggy suit."

"There was a terrible noise," the robot continued.  "And I was tangled in... in... strings."  He processed to look around, now at his mangled 'body', wires and strings hanging from it.

Peter was confused.  Who was this guy?  His mind was racing.  He tried to think of where his extra web cartridges were as he stared at the robot.

"I had to kill the other guy."  Peter stiffened up upon hearing that the robot say that.  He killed someone?  There was nobody else in the building. "He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?"  Steve asked, not moving.  No one was.  Everyone was tense. 

"Wouldn't have been my first call.  But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."  The robot seemed to focus his gaze on the Avengers, gaze lingering over Peter for a second longer than Peter found comfortable. Well, technically, him looking at Peter at all didn't make him comfortable.

"Who sent you?"  Thor asked from behind Peter.  

The robot played a piece of audio.  "I see a suit of armor around the world," it said in a way too familiar voice.  Everyone looked at Tony, all of them confused except Bruce.

"Ultron," Bruce said quietly, turning to Tony.

"In the flesh," the robot said, looking at Bruce.  "Or, no, not yet.  Not this chrysalis.  But I'm ready."  He looked back down at his form.  "I'm on mission."

Thor seemed to tighten his grip on his hammer and he thought he heard Hill ready her gun.  "What mission?"  Natasha asked.

"Peace in our time," the robot said plainly.  Then, suddenly, robots flew through the walls, charging towards the group.  

It was all a blur from that point on.  Thor was swinging his hammer around, hitting robots left and right.  Hill was shooting at them and people without were weapons were trying to fight back, some getting thrown to the ground.  

Peter rushed to his room, not thinking.  No, he was not hiding, though his dads might have wanted him to do so.  He dodged robots and people being thrown.  Right as he got to the hall, a robot met him.  He cursed and tried to fight his way past him.  He ended up sliding under the robot and kicking it in the back.  It went forward, seemingly unhurt.  Peter groaned and got ready to try to fight again when Mjolnir knocked the robot to the ground.

"Thank you!"  Peter yelled, rushing into his room. He went into one of his drawers and quickly located one of his web cartridges.  He worked on them as he ran back out and soon was shooting webs at robots, much to his dad and pops' surprise.  They were probably going to bug him about it later, but now, he was busy.  

Soon enough, there were no robots left, just their parts scattered on the ground.  Ultron stood in the same spot as before.

"That was dramatic," he said, looking at all the Avengers as they stood, staring and slumped against various surfaces.  "I'm sorry, I know you mean well.  You just didn't think it through."

He moved around as he continued, "You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change.  How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to... evolve?"

He picked up the head of one of the dismembered robots.  "With these?  These puppets."  He broke the head and threw it to the ground.  "There's only one path to peace.  The Avengers extinction."

Thor threw Mjolnir at Ultron, causing it to slam into the wall and break apart.  Peter stared at the head as he heard Ultron mutter in a singsong voice:

"I had strings, but now I'm free..."

The lights from the robots eyes and body dimmed until they went completely dark.  Peter made a mental note to never watch Pinocchio ever again.

Peter looked around at the group that was around him.  He asked the question he knew they all had to be thinking:

"What just happened?"

————————

"All our work is gone," Bruce said, looking around the lab they were all gathered in.  Everyone was there but Thor who had gone to search for the Legionnaire robot.  Tony was hesitant to have Peter in there with them, but Peter had insisted.  "Ultron cleared out.  He used the Internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron," Peter muttered, still taking everything in.  He couldn't believe what had happened.  

"He's been in everything," Natasha said, looking around.  "Files, surveillance."

"Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Peter murmured, looking at the group.  He laid his focus on Tony. 

"He's in the files, the internet," Rhodey observed.  "What if he decided to access something a little more exciting?"

Peter's eyes widened.  "You don't mean-"

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey said, walking around the lab.  "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we can still make some."

"Nukes?"  Natasha asked.  "He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say 'dead,'" Steve pointed out. "He said 'extinct.'"

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added. "There was nobody else in the building."

"Yes there was." Tony pressed a button on his device. In front of him appeared the image of a destroyed program. 

"Jarvis?" Peter stared. Jarvis had been there for so long, he couldn't believe it. "This is insane." 

"Jarvis was the first line of defense," Steve said, leaned against a table with his arms folded. "He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No," Bruce said, walking up to the orange catastrophe that used to be Jarvis. "Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is... rage."

Suddenly, Thor rushed in and lifted Tony by the collar of his shirt, an angry look on his face.

"It's going around," Peter muttered, surprised.  Thor was usually a pretty chill person, considering he was the god of thunder.  

"Come on, use your words, buddy."  Tony held onto the arm Thor was using to hold him, being choked by Thor's hold. 

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor spat, not loosening his hold on the man.

"Thor," Steve said, rushing up to Thor.  "The Legionnaire."

"Lost the trail one hundred miles north.  And it has the scepter.  Now we must retrieve it, again."  He released Tony, making him stumble back with a groan right into Steve's arms.

"I don't understand," Peter said, causing people to look at him.  He looked at Tony.  "You created it.  Why is it trying to kill you?  Why is it trying to kill us?"

Peter was shocked along with everyone else to hear Tony start chuckling.  Bruce started shaking his head, as if trying to tell Tony to stop.  

"You think this is funny?"  Peter stared at his dad.  "You have to be joking."

"Maybe?  I mean, is it... is it really so... it really is terrible."  Tony shook his head.  He pulled away from Steve and walked to the middle of the room.

"He is going to kill us! How can it not be terrible?"

"No, you're right. What's funny is that you don't understand why we need this, Pete."

"This might not be the best time," Steve muttered. Everyone looked away from the arguing pair.

Peter and Tony ignored Steve and continued on. "Why would we need a killer robot?" He felt the anger that been feeling for the past week calm as he argued with his dad.

"It's not a killer robot!" Tony said, exasperated. "At least it wasn't supposed to be. It was a peacekeeping program, but..." He shook his head. "You know what? Peter, leave. The adults are talking."

Peter stared. "Are you serious? What the heck am I supposed to do? I want to help! You can't just kick me out like that! I want to-"

"Peter." Steve looked at Peter, a somewhat pleading look in his eyes. "Please. Go." 

Filled with anger, Peter looked at the group who averted their gaze, and left the lab, slamming the door. He heard muffled arguing ensue after her left, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

Peter slammed his door and collapsed onto the bed and groaned as he stared at the ceiling. He didn't care what his dad or pops said. He was going to help. He was going to help them get rid of Ultron, no matter what.

Whether they liked it or not.


	20. Chapter 20

Peter was in his room, wanting to claw his brains out. It was the afternoon after the incident and his dads hadn't told him anything. It was killing him. His dad created a killer robot and he didn't get to know anything about it? 

He should've been able to help. And he did, when it came to the robots. But his dads didn't care. Or, they did care, but too much. Peter and Tony had gotten into arguments aplenty about it. 

"You have to let me help, dad!" Peter had insisted when Tony refused to tell Peter anything.

"Really? Do I?" Tony had replied, not looking at Peter. 

Peter stared at his dad. "Dad! You know that I am capable! You wouldn't have been able to defeat Carnage without me! I have fought bad guys before! Why don't you trust me?"

Tony turned to him. "I do trust you, okay?  But, I don't trust Ultron.  I don't trust those creepy twins."  He looked down and muttered so only he could hear, "I don't trust myself."

Peter shook his head.  "I can fight!  I've fought worse than creepy twins.  Is this about what happened on that mission?  What happened?  Why are you so shaken about it?"

"That's none of your concern, Pete!"  Tony rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "God, don't you think I would have told you if you needed to know?"

Peter was filled with anger.  "Oh, so since you create a killer robot, I get to sit on the sidelines and watched you get killed?!"

"I won't get killed.  I am not a fifteen year old boy who is in over his head!  I have been doing this for years!  I know when to quit!"

"Do you?"  Peter spat.  "If you did, then you would have quit before making a killer bot!"

"Oh for the love, Peter!  Stop calling it that.  Do you think I meant for this to happen?"  Tony shouted.  "Do you think I meant to put you all in danger like this?"

"I don't know, it's hard to tell with you," Peter snapped.  

Tony looked furious, and yet heartbroken at Peter’s words.  "You are not fighting them. End of discussion." 

Before Peter could say anything, the other Avengers had come in and Peter had been forced to go back to his room.

Now, Peter had had enough. He was going to help. He snuck over to his door and opened it quietly, peering out to see if the Avengers were close. He went into the hall and soon saw the Avengers around the table.

He stayed hidden in the hallway and listened in.  He was shocked at the first thing he heard.  

"Ultron killed Strucker." He recognized his pops' voice. Who the heck was Strucker? He furrowed his eyebrows and zoned back into the conversation.  

"Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" He heard Natasha ask the group. 

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Tony said, as if it were obvious.

"I bet he..." Natasha seemed to be on the computer by the sound that followed. Peter's thoughts had been confirmed when he heard her say, "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything," Steve said. The group seemed to realize what he meant and agree, mumbling their agreement.  They all left the table, going to another room. Peter tried to hide better in the shadows in case they came his way, but they didn't. (Probably best they didn't, anyway. He wasn't as hidden as he'd hoped, but that didn't matter.)

He went to the table.  He immediately regretted what he saw.  On a tablet, he saw a man, murdered in a room that looked like a cell.  There was what looked a robot at the edge of the photo.  Even worse, on the words, written in blood, was the word 'PEACE'.  It was awful.

He found himself staring at it in horror.  He finally looked away, feeling sick after seeing it.  He looked at what else they had on the table.  Nothing else all interesting or related to the Ultron attack it seemed.  The computer that Natasha had used was there, but it just said 'record deleted', most likely referring to their records about whoever Strucker was.  

"Woah," Peter muttered.  "This Ultron guy really means business."

Was it bad that he couldn't help but feel a bit of joy?

And no, not about a man getting murdered, not about an evil robot being loose, none of that.  He's not a psycho.  Now his dads had to let him help, right?  This guy was insane.  And if those weird twins were involved, it seemed like they would need help.  

He had been standing there longer than he had realized.  He suddenly heard his dads and the others heading back.  He froze before rushing to his room, closing the door as quietly and quickly as he could.  He sat on his bed and pulled his math book onto his lap as he heard steps heading towards his room.  

He looked up as the door opened and Natasha walked in.  "We're going on a mission," she said plainly.  Peter nodded, slightly surprised and disappointed.  He looked down expecting her to leave or say something like be back around eight, pretty sure there is pizza in the fridge.  

He was confused as Natasha quietly closed the door and walked over to him.  She took the math book off of his lap and placed it on his desk.  He looked up at her.

"Look," Natasha said in a hushed voice.  "I know you want to help.  And, though your dad and even your pops won't admit it, we need more help.  So-" she looked at the door and said in an even quieter voice, "I know that your suit is in your dads lab.  Might have to look little harder, but it's there.  I can stall jet takeoff, but not for too long.  If I stall it too long, we'll miss our chance to get this guy.  You don't have much time to do so.  When I leave the room, wait a few minutes before leaving to the lab, got it?"

Peter nodded.  He couldn't believe it.  Natasha really was the best.  He smiled softly, causing Natasha to smile slightly back.  

"Now.  In case you don't make it onto the jet-"  She pulled a small paper out of her pocket and put it in Peter's hand, closing it into a fist around it.  "This is where we are headed.  It might be hard to get there without the jet, so you might want to be quick."  

She stood up and cleared her throat.  "Be back around eight," She said louder, heading to the door.  "Pretty sure there's pizza in the fridge."

"Thank you," Peter said quietly and sincerely, looking up at Natasha.

"You're welcome," Natasha said quietly, opening the door.  And with that, she left,  leaving Peter sitting on his bed in awe.  

After a few minutes and hearing what sounded like an elevator ding, he read the paper quickly and shoved it into his pocket.  He stood up and rushed out of his room.  He hurried down to Tony's lab to get his suit.

Soon enough, he would fully be Spider-Man again.

Spider-Man would be back.  And he wouldn't be taken away again, no matter what.


	21. Chapter 21

Peter arrived in his dads lab and immediately began looking. It couldn't be too hard to find, right?

He dug through almost everything. At one point, he called out, "Jarvis?" No reply. He looked down upon remembering what had happened to Jarvis. He sighed and continued on.

"Come on," he muttered, looking around. He didn't have much time and he did not want to get to the African coast without a jet. That did not sound fun at all.

He gave a small gasp as he found his suit.  It had been so long since he had worn it.  He picked it up and admired it.  He ran a hand over the spider emblem on the front and fidgeted with the web cartridges.  He smiled wide.  

"Should I give you two a moment?"

Peter jumped and looked at the source of the voice, knowing he was busted.  Bruce stood in the lab doorway, leaning against it.

"I-I um, I-" Peter stuttered and blushed, shocked.  He nearly dropped his suit.

"Natasha, right?"  Bruce asked, walking in.  

Peter nodded.  "Yeah... please don't tell my dads. Then they'd kill me, and they wouldn't let me fight or even let me have a chance of being Spider-Man and-"

"I was going to just say hurry up. I knew what Natasha was planning, so I came down here saying that I forgot something to buy you time."

Peter gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He tightened his hold on his suit.

Bruce nodded. "Of course." He smiled and motioned for Peter to follow. Peter followed excitedly, suit in hand.

As they got into the elevator and began heading up, Bruce turned to Peter.  "Now, when we get up there, you need to wait a minute or so before coming or else they're going to see you.  I'll distract them for a while, giving you time to sneak in and hide.  It isn't going to be necessarily comfortable, but at least you're coming."

Peter nodded.  "Thank you so much," he repeated.  He stood behind Bruce as the elevator doors opened. Bruce walked out and over to the jet. Peter stepped out of the elevator and waited for a while before sneaking over to the jet. Bruce was talking with Steve and Tony, keeping them distracted enough to give Peter time to get in.

"Bruce! I get it, but now is not the time!" Tony said, throwing his arms in the air. "We need to go now!"

Natasha quickly met Peter as he entered and took him to a confined area and, after Natasha left, Peter changed into his suit. He nearly fell over halfway through getting it on as the jet took off. After he regained his balance, he finished getting his suit on and stood up straighter, feeling the feelings he had missed in his time of not being Spider-Man. He looked down at his wrists where his web cartridges were, moving his fingers. It had been so long.

He stayed in his little hidden area of the jet for what felt like forever. He counted how many times his dad made a joke or pun. (He lost track after 18.)

He held back a groan of boredom. He was excited to fight Ultron and these twins, but why did it have to take so long to get to the African coast? He was going to die of boredom before he could actually get the chance to fight.

He fall asleep after a while, and, after a few hours, he woke up to the sound of the jet landing.  He stood up slowly, keeping himself hidden behind boxes.  He stumbled a little as the jet landed and opened up.

Finally, Peter thought.  I was about to die of boredom.

He watched as all the Avengers except for Bruce exited the jet.  Bruce stood at the entrance and motioned for Peter to come after a short while.  Peter rushed over to the exit, seeing everyone far ahead.

"Good luck," Bruce said quietly, giving Peter a small pat on the back.

Peter nodded.  He rushed out of the jet and looked around. There was greenery around them but ahead of them was a disgusting brown ocean, broken and old ships floating. He saw his parents and the other Avengers except for Bruce heading for a certain ship and tried to figure out how to get inside without his parents noticing. He follows them at a very far distance and hid whenever they looked back. 

After a while, he saw a way in near the top of the ship. He grinned as his parents and the others went a different direction. He looked around before shooting a web at a nearby boat and swung into the direction of the entrance. He had a few close calls when his Pops or Dad looked his way, having him duck out of view a few times. 

When he arrived at the entrance, he could hear talking inside. He stayed put outside for a while, listening.

"Y'know," a gravelly voice that Peter didn't recognize said. "it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions."

What on earth are they talking about? Peter thought, stealing a glance down. He was slightly surprised to see what must be Ultron and a girl and boy- the twins, maybe?- Talking to a dirty looking man. He still could not see what they were talking about.

He was about to take his head back out when he noticed to his shock and horror, the girl who was standing close to Ultron glance up and notice him. He quickly went to get his head out when he felt a force pushing him forward.

Suddenly, he was falling. Before he could do or say anything, he had landed hard on his back in front of Ultron and the twins. 

He didn't know what to do. "Ow..." he muttered, looking up at the surprised group. He was so dead. He noticed something with a slight glow behind the group. So that's what they were talking about, he thought. Was that... vibranium? He had heard about it from his dad when they would work in the lab. Man, those were simpler times.

Ultron took a good long look at him. "Spider-Man," He said coolly. "Or, Peter Rogers-Stark." He looked amused - can a robot look amused? - and grabbed Peter by the arm, lifting him up. "Oh, this is just perfect."

He shoved Peter over in the twins direction. "Make sure he doesn't try to get away or do anything stupid."

Like he would try to get away. In a group like this, he would need a bit of a miracle.

Still, it would be worth a try.

Peter shot a web at the male twin, throwing him off his rhythm when he got a web to the face. He went to shoot one at the girl, but she used a weird mist to redirect it at Peter, it going and hitting the man Ultron was bargaining with. The man glanced at Peter before trying to wipe it off.

Peter glared at her through his mask and gave her an unkind gesture before sighing. If he tried to swing away, he would immediately get brought back by that witch lady.

The boy grabbed Peter by the arm. He kept a firm grip on Peter's arm, making him wince.

"Anyway," Ultron said, looking back at the filthy man. "Now, so are you." The guy's phone started to buzz. He pulled it out and looked at it, puzzled. "It's all under your dummy holdings. Finance is so weird."

"But I always say," Ultron continued. "'Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."

Peter recognized that saying. The man seemed to recognize it too. He looked at Ultron. "Stark," He said quietly. 

"What?" Ultron said, obviously not pleased. 

"Tony Stark used to say that," The dirty man said accusingly. "To me. You're one of his."

Peter knew that was obviously not the best thing to say. He looked at Ultron as the robot said, "what? I'm not-"

He grabbed the man's arm with a death grip. A man that stood close to the group went to use his gun on Ultron but the girl used some weird magic trick to bring the gun down. 

It's a witch! Peter thought. The girl seemed to shoot him a glare and he looked away. 

"I'm not," Ultron said, keeping his grip firm. "You think I'm one of Stark's puppets? His hollow men? I mean, look at me. Do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"

With that final sentence, he brought his metal arm across the man's arm and, before Peter could get a chance to look away, Ultron sliced most of the guy's arm clean off. Peter held back a gag. The man stumbled back, in shock.

"I'm sorry," Ultron said quickly. "I'm... Oh! I'm sure that's gonna be okay. I'm sorry. It's just that I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!" He was enraged. He kicked the man, making him tumble down a flight of stairs behind him. The man who had been with him rushed down after him.

"It's a thing with me," Ultron continued. "Stark is... he's a sickness!"

"Ah, Junior," a familiar voice said from above. Ultron turned to face the voice. Peter grinned a little and gave a small sigh of relief, making the boy tighten his grip.

"Ow, ow, I get it," Peter said quietly.

Tony landed in the middle of the walkway on the ship, Thor and Steve behind him. None of them seemed to see Peter, Peter being behind Ultron and in between the twins. 

"You're gonna break your old man's heart," Tony said to Ultron, him, Thor and Steve looking ready to fight.

Ultron seemed to smirk - once again, can robots smirk? He glanced back at the twins and nodded. The boy shoved Peter up to Ultron. Ultron held Peter by the arm and pulled off his mask, revealing Peter's slightly bruised and sheepish face. 

"Ah, Stark," Ultron said coldly. "How nice of you to join us."


	22. Chapter 22

Peter put on a sheepish grin. "Hey..." He winced as Ultron tightened his grip on Peter's arm. Please don't cut my arm off, please don't cut my arm off, he thought.

Steve's face changed to a look of shock and horror - most likely Tony's too, but you couldn't see under the suit.  Steve nearly dropped his shield and seemed to say something into his earpiece.

"Peter?" Tony finally said, sounding panicked. "How did you get here? How did you get your suit!? Why-"

"Now, now, Stark. Please save the questions until after the show." Ultron tightened his grip even more, making Peter let out a small gasp. "Unless you want me to break your son before then."

"No one has to break anything," Steve said quickly, looking at Peter worriedly.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron spat back at the group.

"Beat me by one second," Tony muttered, not taking his eyes off of Ultron and Peter.

"Ah, yes," the boy said, walking up so he was beside Peter. "He's funny." 

Peter wanted to web that guy up like there was no tomorrow. He noticed the girl shooting him another glare and looked away.

"Mr. Stark," He went on, standing beside Peter. "It's what? Comfortable?" He looked down below them. Peter was shocked to see missiles on the floor below them. "Like old times?" 

"This was never my life," Tony said, looking at the missiles below. 

"You two can still walk away from this," Steve said, stepping forward so he was beside Tony.

"Oh, we will," the girl said. Nice accents, Peter thought. Russian?

"I know you've suffered-"

Steve was cut off by Ultron scoffing. "Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..."

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," Thor said, looking at Peter who gave an 'I'm okay' nod. 

"I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet.'" Ultron stepped forward, practically dragging Peter behind him.

"Uh huh, what's the vibranium for?" Tony asked, stepping forward as well. 

"I'm glad you asked that," Ultron replied. "because I wanted to take this time me to explain my evil plan."

Upon finishing the last sentence, he seemed to pull Tony forward and robots began attacking the others. He shoved Peter over to the twins who then bickered about but I want to go kill Thor! No I want to kill Thor! before going to fight Tony.

Eventually, they shoved Peter into the metal arms of a robot before rushing off to fight. Everyone had begun fighting. Peter groaned before shaking his head, webbing the robots face and, before the robot could try to do anything else, flipped and kicked it in the face. He was about to rush off when the now crumpled robot grabbed his foot. He cursed and tried to get it off.

When he was about to web the robot again, a certain shield hit the robots arm, breaking it easily. Peter grinned and looked at his Pops.

"Thanks," He said, grabbing his mask from off the ground. "I'm sorry for sneaking here..."

Steve shook his head. "Fight now, talk later," he told Peter before going back to fighting.

The fighting went on for a while, and after a while, he noticed the witch girl using her mind magic on Thor, Steve and Natasha. They all seemed to be a bit dazed after that; especially Natasha, who had come in a different way.  

He fought his way over to Steve.  "Pops!  You okay?"  He asked, webbing up robots left and right.  

Steve shook his head and then nodded, looking distracted.  "No- yeah, I'm fine, Pete.  I'll be fine."  He tightened his grip on his shield and looked at Peter.  "Duck."

Peter did as he was told and heard his Pops' shield fly over his head and turned to see a robot get decapitated by the shield.  

"Once again," Peter said, looking back up at his Pops.  "Thanks."  He webbed a robot that came to attack them.

Steve nodded and ran off, still seeming dazed.  Peter sighed and ran in a different direction to go and fight more.  

Dang, he thought, looking around for that weird girl twin.  She certainly has everyone discombobulated.

And wouldn't you know it, which mind reader chick showed up almost instantly?  You guessed it: the twin.  

He shot her a glare and webbed up her hand.  "Hey, you're magic?  That's so cool!"  He webbed up her other hand and kicked her.  

She wore a furious look on her face. She clawed the webs off, and, as Peter had begun to swing away, used her force to pull him down.

Peter landed in front of her with a grunt. "Really?" He groaned. "Again?" 

The twin didn't do anything but lean over him and go to do the same thing she had seemed to do to everybody else. He squeezed his eyes shut and got ready for it to happen.

But, almost immediately after, he could hear her gasp and what sounded like pulsing. He opened his eyes and saw Clint standing in front of the girl who now had something sticking onto her head that looked like it had to hurt.

"Yeah, I've tried the whole mind control thing," Clint said, grabbing Peter by the hand and helping him up. "Not a fan."

As the girl was about to fall, her speedy brother came and pushed Clint away and into a window, making him fall into a pile of broken glass in the room next to them. He shot Peter and Clint a glare before picking up her sister, taking the thing Clint had attached onto her head off and rushing away.

Peter rushed over to Clint. "You okay?" He asked, helping him up this time.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," Clint said quietly, standing with Peter's help. "I'll be fine." He brushed himself off and spoke into his earpiece. "Whoever's standing, we got to move!"

There was no response according to Clint. Peter sighed and rushed off to find his Pops. He was surprised to find him slumped against the wall, looking dazed and distracted.

"Pops?" No response. "Pops? Pops!"

Steve looked at Peter. "Pete," he said quietly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You're obviously not. It was that witch, wasn't it?" Peter looked at his Pops, worried. His Pops never acted like this.

"I'll be fine. Really." He stood up and quickly sat back down. "Some rest might be good, though." He leaned his head back. 

Peter looked at the earpiece in his dads ear as he heard faint talking.

"Natasha, I could really use a lullaby," Peter heard his Dad say. Peter knew what the lullaby meant. Bruce had become the Hulk. The witch girl had most likely gotten to him.

Peter cursed quietly, forgetting his Pops was right there.

Steve looked at him. "Language!"

"Sorry," he mumbled, trying to listen in on the earpiece conversation. 

"The whole team is down," he heard Clint say. "You got no backup here."

"I'm gonna go help," Peter decided, getting ready to shoot a web and swing to an exit.

Steve quickly grabbed him by the arm. "No, you are not. This is where I draw the line. The Hulk is not something I want you fighting. At least not yet."

Peter sighed. His Pops was kind of right. He had seen footage of his Uncle Bruce as the Hulk and it wasn't pretty. 

"Fine," Peter finally said, looking at his Pops. "But could you not grab my arm? I've been grabbed there so much in the last hour I might lose feeling there. Those twins have a harsh grip."

Steve let go of his arm. "Sorry. Thank you." He looked at Pete.

Peter nodded and helped his Pops with getting out of the ship and down to the jet. He saw Clint helping a much worse looking Natasha. 

Peter sat down in the jet beside his Pops. Steve looked at Peter who was staring at his lap where his mask now was in his hands. He hesitated before saying:

"It was Natasha wasn't it?"

Peter glanced at Natasha before looking at his dad and nodded. "Yeah. She told me where my suit would be and said she'd stall takeoff."

Steve nodded. "That's why her and Bruce kept stalling." He looked down. "Look, I'm sorry about this whole thing. I honestly wanted to let you fight after a while and maybe your Dad would've let you too, but then I think what happened on the mission when we got the scepter just made his fears worse and it just sealed the deal."

Peter nodded. "I know. I get it. Has he told you what happened?"

Steve shook his head. "No, but it most likely was that girl- Maximoff twin. Maybe he'll open up about it soon." He sighed. "Jeez, this has all been so stressful."

Peter nodded. His body was just now realizing how tired he was. Could you blame him? It had been a busy and tiresome few days. He felt his eyes get heavy until he fell asleep in his chair beside his Pops.

——————

Peter woke up much later. It was dark out and they were in the air. He looked around and saw Clint driving the jet, Bruce almost asleep on the floor, Natasha and Steve sitting and Tony and Thor standing. Everyone seemed very tense, for obvious reasons.

"The news is loving you guys," the familiar voice of Maria Hill said over the radio. "Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banners arrest, but it's in the air."

Peter looked at Bruce. There was no way they could send him to jail. He couldn't even imagine it. He shook his head a little, causing Steve to look his way. 

Peter zoned out after that. Just the thought of his uncle in prison... He couldn't believe it. He looked at Steve who was looking a bit worried and distracted, as he had been ever since the witch got to him.  Peter frowned and looked away.  

The call with Hill ended and Peter watched as Tony walked over to Clint. "Want to switch out?" He asked. 

Clint shook his head. "I've got it. You might want to rest, we're still a few hours away."

"And where are we going, exactly?" Peter spoke up, causing Tony and Clint to glance back at him.

"A safe house," Clint finally said, looking back into the dark, cloudy sky.

Peter did not know what was in store for the group when they would find Ultron, but he did know one thing:

It was not going to be good.


	23. Chapter 23

Peter looked around as they landed somewhere unfamiliar. It looked like a farm, there being a barn close to a good sized house with a wrap around porch. They had parked a ways away in a field of trees.  Peter gave Clint a puzzled look, to which Clint just shrugged.

The group made their way out of the jet, Peter, Tony and Bruce out of suits or degreenified. They walked up to the house, Clint helping Natasha to walk. 

What did that witch do to her?  Peter thought, worried.  He had never seen her this bad.  Granted, for normal people standards, she wasn't that bad, but this is Natasha we're talking about.

"What is this place?"  Peter muttered, looking around as they made their way up the porch.  

"Safe house," Tony said, not looking at Peter.  He was still most likely ticked off about Peter coming to that mission.

Probably wants me back at Stark Tower, Peter thought as he walked.

"Let's hope," Clint said, opening the door.  Everyone followed in behind him, all equally confused.  Well, except for Natasha.

"Honey?"  Clint called as they walked into a living room type place.  Peter frowned,really confused now.  Who?

Peter then saw a pregnant woman walk in and be slightly shocked upon seeing the group and smile upon seeing Clint.  Peter was slightly shocked.  He looked at Clint.

"Hi," Clint said, going and hugging the woman.  "Company.  Sorry I didn't call ahead."  He kissed her, making the group feel a little bit awkward.

Woah woah woah, Peter thought, looking at the couple.  Clint - Clint Barton, has a wife?  

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony decided, looking at the group.

"Gentlemen," Clint said, holding the woman's waist. "This is Laura."

Laura waved a little. "I know all of your names." She chuckled. 

Peter gave a small wave back and heard footsteps coming from the hallway they had come through. He looked at the doorway and saw two kids rushing in: a girl and a boy.  The boy, most likely the oldest, couldn't be older than ten. Clint immediately hugged them, saying hello.

Peter stared. And he has kids?! How did I not know this? The boy looked at Peter, making him clear his throat and looked at his puzzled Pops.

"These are... smaller agents," Tony decided again.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl said, looking up at her dad.

Natasha stood up straighter before walking over to the girl. "Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha said with a smile before hugging the munchkin.

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve said, seeming to have regained his composure. 

"Yeah, we would've called ahead, but we were busy having no idea you existed." Tony said, looking at Clint.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined," Clint said, one arm around his wife and the other around his son. "He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low." 

After that, people just began talking. Natasha walked over to Laura and Tony and Bruce began to talk. The boy continued to look at Peter and the girl seemed to have taken interest in Thor.

Maybe she's thinking: why does this guy have such long hair? Peter thought, trying not to look at the boy.

After a little while, Thor just left, not saying a word. Steve followed after him, leaving the rest to be confused. Everyone seemed to be confused today, but could you blame them?

Everyone dispersed after that. Besides the fact that Thor didn't come back, things were pretty normal.

Peter kind of hated that.

Not Clint's family, necessarily. They seemed like good people. I mean, before this moment, he had had no clue that they existed, but that was beside the point. But the fact that he couldn't do anything. Hadn't that been just what he was doing for the past few weeks? Doing absolutely nothing? He wanted to do something again. 

"Peter!"

Peter looked up, knocked out of his daze. He looked at Clint, who had called out his name.

"Did you hear what I said?" Clint asked. Peter shook his head, causing Clint to sigh. "Well, Mr. Dreaming-with-my-eyes-wide-open, you're gonna be sharing a room with Lila and Cooper." He motioned to his kids.

Peter's eyes widened slightly. "I'm stuck in the kiddy room?" Lila, the little girl, stuck her tongue out at Peter, who just stuck out his tongue right back.

"Unless you wanna cuddle up with your dads, yes," Clint said, giving him a look.

Peter just groaned a little and left the room, navigating his way to the kids room. He noticed Steve and Tony exchanging a look as he left.

"I shoulda stayed at the tower," Peter muttered, sitting on the floor of the kids room once he found it. "Maybe then I could've done something."

He spent the next few hours staring at the wall and playing with the legos that the kids had in their room. I could really use a LEGO Death Star right now, he thought. I miss Ned. I miss Star Wars.

Peter started to formulate something in his head. "Maybe if I left and made it to New York," He said, not thinking anyone was around. "maybe I could help in some way. It's not like I can do anything here."

"Huh, you sure about that?" A voice said from the doorway. Peter froze and looked up at his dad. 

"Oh... hey," Peter said, looking down. He heard Tony make his way into the room, nearly trampling the LEGO tower that Peter had built.

"Hey." Tony sat down on one of the beds. "Look, about that sneaking thing..." Peter was ready to get yelled at. He was surprised to hear Tony say:

"Good job."

Peter looked up at his dad, confused. "Excuse me?" He couldn't have heard him correctly.

"Good job. I mean, after this whole Ultron thing is over, you are gonna be grounded until you graduate college, but you did good."

"Really? But I did awful! All I did was get myself caught and held hostage. I'll never be an Avenger." He muttered the last part. 

Tony shook his head. "You did great. I'm proud of ya, Pete." He hesitated before asking, "How'd you get your suit?"

"Natasha," Peter said plainly. "Please don't kill her. Or me."

Tony shook his head. "That's the last time I let her know anything." He laughed softly and stood up. "I'll let you get settled in here and continue your tower. Remember, bedtime is at seven thirty on the dot."

"You're just loving this, aren't you?"

Tony shrugged. "Who's to say?" He headed to the doorway and had almost left the room when Peter blurted:

"I'm sorry."

He could tell his dad was still upset, whether either of them wanted to believe it or not. But there wasn't much that Peter could do at the moment to help that.

 

Tony just looked back a little. "I know." And with that, he left, leaving Peter with his LEGO tower and a small feeling of guilt.


	24. Chapter 24

Ah, a safe house.  How safe, how calm, how incredibly...

Boring.

When was Peter going to get the chance to get out of here?  All he was doing here was watching kids playing and adults fighting.  Neither was pleasant.  

Tony and Steve had began to fight, much to Peter's dismay.  At the moment, they were out chopping wood and arguing. Not a good mix. 

Thor still hadn't come back yet, causing confusion for everyone.  Clint was spending lots of time with his family for obvious reasons, and Bruce and Natasha were doing their own thing.

Peter hated this.  Tony was still mad at Peter, whether either of them wanted to believe it or not.  He had to count on Natasha to get any information about Ultron and she didn't always come through.  He wasn't even able to contact Ned.

"Ultron's everywhere," Tony had said when Peter had asked if he could the first time.  "Who's to say he won't track you from your calls?"

If he's trying to track us, Peter thought passive aggressively.  Why wouldn't he have just tried to track the jet?  Or just our phones in general?  We're not necessarily hiding from him as much as the government because of Bruce, aren't we? Still, Tony insisted. 

After Clint's daughter Lila had made Peter suffer through yet another tea party in the Spider-Man suit, he had had enough.

"That's it!" He muttered, pulling off the mask that now had tea stained on it from when Lila insisted he drink the tea with the mask on.  "I'm done!" 

He was done just waiting for something. He was done hiding. And he was done with all these tea parties. He was getting the heck out of there. 

Lucky for him, he didn't have much to pack. All he had brought was the Spider-Man suit.  He had been forced to wear some of Clint's son Cooper's clothes.  Yes, he was able to fit in them.

He put on an outfit over the Spider-Man suit, hiding it well enough that nobody would notice unless they were really looking.  

Just say you're going on a walk, He thought as he walked out of the house. A long, long walk.

When he got out, he saw his Pops still out by the firewood, but his Dad not there.  He frowned a little and froze a bit when his Pops looked his way.

"Hey Peter," he said with a smile that was obviously a little forced.  It most likely had to be because of the fight between him and Tony.  "Where you off to?"

"Er, off to find Dad," he lied, seeing his Dad not there.  "Where is he?"

"In the barn," Steve said, looking back at the piles of wood.  "Look.  Pete, I'm sorry about everything.  I know this must seem incredibly boring.  And I know it can't be great sharing a room with the kids but... hang in there, okay?"

Peter nodded, but there was just no way he could 'hang in there.'  "Thanks, Pops."  He put on a small smile and walked over to the barn.

Just head over in that direction, and then bolt off into the woods.  It's that easy.

But, as he walked by the barn door, he heard voices inside.  Was that... Nick Fury? He had heard Nick  
Fury's voice a few times before. Enough to recognize it when he heard it in a barn.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down."  Peter stopped in front of the barn door, keeping quiet.  Were they talking about Ultron?  He listened in.

"You're not the director of me," Tony said, sounding as if he was fiddling with something.  

"I'm not the director of anybody. I'm just an old man who cares very much about you," Fury said, sounding a bit sympathetic, which was a bit odd, considering it was Nick Fury.

"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers."  Peter froze and his eyes widened when his Dad said this. What on earth was he talking about?

"I saw it," Tony continued. "I didn't tell the team.  I didn't tell Steve or Pete. How could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. Peter and Steve were gone.  The whole world, too. Because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

"'Maximoff girl, she's working you, Stark. Playing on your fear," Fury assured him.  

"I wasn't tricked, I was shown. Wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on."  Tony was walking around the barn, distressed.

What was Peter hearing?  This sounded terrible.  His Dad had seen them all die.  So that's what the witch had shown him.  That's what had been bothering him.

"You come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony. War isn't one of them." Fury stood up from wherever he had been sitting and walked over to Tony.

"I watched my friends die. I watched my family - my husband and my son, die. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right?"  Tony scoffed.  "Nope. It wasn't the worst part."

"The worst part is that you didn't," Fury said knowingly.  

Peter couldn't listen to any more of this.  But he couldn't leave now either.  He just headed back to the house in a daze.  

"You okay, Pete?"  Steve said, setting down the axe he had been using for the wood.  He looked a bit worried.

"Y-yeah.  I'm fine.  Just- just need to rest a bit."  He rushed up to the empty kids room and sat on the edge of one of the bed.  A million thoughts ran through his head.

His Dad had seen them all die.  And he had been keeping that bottled up.  He had blamed himself for everything.

Man, Peter felt like an idiot.  And a jerk.  

His Dad had seen all of this and didn't say a word.  Meanwhile, Peter had to go a while without being Spider-Man and felt bored and he was whining his head off.  He was ready to run off and fight Ultron on his own for heavens sake.  There was no way he could leave now.

Why hadn't Tony told them?  That's not something you should keep bottled up.  Seeing everyone die... Peter couldn't imagine the pain and guilt that would cause.  Peter had been so rude and annoying about the subject, that he barely even noticed or didn't bother to ask what was bothering Tony or what that witch had shown him.  

No wonder Tony had wanted Peter to stop being Spider-Man.  He had seen Peter die.  Maybe he thought that if Peter wasn't Spider-Man, then he wouldn't get hurt or near the fight.  He had decided that Peter shouldn't be Spider-Man before the whole Ultron thing started and before he saw that, but the vision the witch had shown him had to help his thought process on the subject.  

Peter stared at his hands, thinking about the whole situation, until he heard a faint knock on the door. 

"Meeting downstairs with Fury," Natasha told him from outside the door.

Peter nodded and thanked her before standing up, clearing his throat and his mind and leaving the room to go to the meeting downstairs with a new view on the situation and new respect for his Dad.


	25. Chapter 25

Peter sat at the kitchen table with Natasha, looking at Fury who was in the kitchen.  Tony was throwing darts in the dining room with Clint behind him and Steve in the doorway between the living room and the dining room.

Tony had been hesitant to let Peter down, which Peter now understood, but he had eventually conceded.

"You're most likely going to eavesdrop anyway," Tony said with a shrug. "Might as well just let you sit down here with us."

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," Fury said, filling up a cup with some alcoholic beverage.  Peter noticed Clint's daughter rushing over to Natasha and giving her a drawing - of what, Peter didn't fully see.  A butterfly, maybe? "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Peter asked, Fury then looking at him.

"Oh, he's easy to track," Fury answered.  "He's everywhere. The guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us angle any of his plans though."

"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked, retrieving his darts from the dart board.

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway."  Fury set his drink down and leaned against the counter.

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare," Tony said, raising an eyebrow before throwing another dart.

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that,"  Fury replied.

"Nexus?" Steve asked, a bit confused.  You'd think with all the time he spends with Tony that he'd know what Nexus is, but, it seemed as if he had no idea.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo,"  Bruce said, speaking up from the corner.  "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"So what'd they say?" Peter said, getting back on focus.

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony asked, quickly turning as Clint threw a dart from behind him that nearly hit his face.  Clint just shrugged and looked at Fury, smirking a little.

"Parties unknown." Fury said plainly.

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked from the table.

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."  Fury left the kitchen and went into the dining room.

"I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown." Tony set the darts down, shooting Clint a glare.

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Natasha said, looking at Fury.

"I do. I have you."  Fury looked around the room.  "Back in the days, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit that platinum bast-" F

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Natasha muttered, causing Peter to laugh quietly.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve shot her a playful look.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked, getting them  
Back on track.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies." Steve regained seriousness again.  

"Person bodies. The human form is inefficient."  Tony shook his head.  "Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha looked at Bruce and Tony.

"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve."  Bruce looked at Tony and then at the group.  Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"  Peter questioned, confused.  Bruce then asked a question that made everyone go silent:

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

————

Helen Cho is a scientist with amazing technology.  Specifically, a 'Cradle' that could print human tissue.  No one had heard from her or been in contact with her.  And that was a problem.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint," Steve said, now in uniform and shield on his back.  Mission now: to get The Cradle out of Ultron's clutches.

"Alright.  Strictly recon.  I'll hit the Nexus.  I'll join you as soon as I can."  Tony looked at his watch and then up at Steve.  

"If Ultron's really building a body..." Steve said, looking at Tony with worry in his eyes.

"He'll be more powerful than any of us.  Maybe all of us.  An android designed by a robot."  Tony took a deep breath and sighed.

"You know," Steve said, shaking his head.  "I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

"I'll drop banner and Peter off at the tower," nick said, slipping his jacket on.  "Y-"

"No!"  Peter blurted out, causing his dads and Fury to look at him.  He hesitated before continuing.  "I'm not being left out again.  You know that I'm going to find a way to get there to the fight anyway."

Fury looked between a somewhat distressed looking Tony and a desperate Peter.  "Kids' got a point.  He does seem to have a record of sneaking into battle."

Tony sighed.  "Fine.  You'll go with your Pops."  He looked at Steve and wore a small smile that had still had some worry behind it.  "Try not to kill our son."

"Only if you promise to be quick and stay safe."  Steve took Tony's hand and squeezed it gently before dropping it.

"Always am, darling."  Tony looked at Peter momentarily before looking back at Fury who had just cleared his throat.

"Anyway," Fury said, looking at Tony.  "Mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours.  Apparently," Tony muttered.  "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know.  Something dramatic, I hope."  And with that, Fury left.

Tony left next, needing to get to the Nexus.  Beforehand, he went up to Peter.

"Be careful, okay?"  Tony said, hands on Peter's shoulders.  "I don't know what I'd do if I had to see you hurt again, or..." he stopped himself and looked down.

Peter hugged his Dad, surprising him a little at first but he hugged back almost immediately.  "I promise," Peter said quietly.  "I won't let you down, Dad."

Tony pulled away, a smile on his face.  "Good. Go get 'em, tiger."  

After Tony had left and goodbyes had been said - Peter had to say goodbye to the kids, though too be honest, he was not going to miss Spider-Man tea parties - Peter, Steve, Natasha and Clint boarded the jet and left the farm.

The ride was quiet at first.  Clint was driving, meanwhile the rest of them sat around the jet.

Eventually, Steve came over to Peter, who was sitting against a wall, staring at the ceiling.  Steve sat beside him, causing Peter to look away from the ceiling.  

"Hey," Steve said quietly.  "How you feeling, Pete?"

Peter hesitated.  "I'm great.  Ultron's going down."

Steve noticed the hesitation.  "You okay?  You've seemed a bit off since you talking to your Dad.  Everything okay between you two?"  Peter gave him a 'what-do-you-think?' look.

Steve sighed.  "I know things have been hard between you two.  Believe me, I know.  And I wish I could make it better, but this goes beyond your dad.  He's seemed off since before, as you know."

You have no idea, Peter thought.  "Yeah..." he wasn't going to tell his Pops what he had heard, though it might have been a good idea.  He shouldn't have heard that in the first place, and he couldn't just go and spread that around.  That would just make things worse.

"Just give him time, okay?  He loves you.  And I do too.  It's just been really stressful lately.  For obvious reasons."  Steve nudged Peter's shoulder with his.

Peter nodded and looked up at his Pops.  Him and his Dad were really trying their best.  There's only so much they can do.

"I know, Pops.  I get it."  Peter smiled softly.

"Good," Steve said with a faint smile.

They sat there quietly for a while before Clint called back, "Almost there.  Get ready."

Steve looked at Peter, both of them standing up.  "You ready?"  

Peter looked out the window as they neared the South Korean city where Ultron was somewhere with the Cradle.  "As ready as I'll ever be."


	26. Chapter 26

Everyone except for Clint, who was driving the jet, was waiting to jump out and find Ultron and The Cradle. Was Peter a tiny bit nervous about jumping out of a plane? Yes, yes he was.  But he'd live - hopefully.

Steve was the first to jump.  He was going to go see if he could find Helen Cho and The Cradle.  Everyone waited, tense.  Eventually over the earpiece- which Peter had been thankful to get.  If he was going to be on the mission, he was sure as heck going to need it - they heard voices.

"Dr. Cho!"  Steve exclaimed.  

"He's uploading himself into the body," Cho said, sounding like she was in pain.

"Where?"  Steve asked.  

There was a silence before Cho said, "The real power is in The Cradle.  The gem, it's power is uncontainable.  You can't just blow it up.  You have to get The Cradle to Tony."  

"First," Steve said.  "I have to find it."  Steve seemed to rush off from wherever he was.  "You guys copy that?"

"We did," Clint said, changing the direction of the jet.

"I've got a private jet taking off across town," Natasha said, at one of the computers.  "No manifest.  That could be him."

"There," Clint said, pointing at something out the front window.  "A truck from the lab.  Right above you, Cap.  On the loop by the bridge.  It's him.  You got three with The Cradle and one in the cab.  I could take out the driver."

"Negative.  That truck crashes, the gem could level the city."  Peter saw a figure below that most likely was Steve, climbing up a ladder to the loop were the lab truck was.  "We need to draw out Ultron."

Steve spent the next while fighting Ultron, everyone watching from the jet.

"Hey Spider-Crew, you're up," Clint said, looking back at Peter and Natasha, opening the hatch.  "Give him hell."

Peter nodded and looked at Natasha who had her motorcycle ready.  Clint lowered the jet over the road and they both left the jet, Natasha by motorcycle, and Peter by jumping out and then swinging.  

Peter went to the top of a building and looked around.  He spotted the truck and quickly headed in that direction.  His Pops definitely needed help. Ultron was too powerful to fight alone. Natasha was already on her way over.

Peter arrived at the truck and swung alongside it as his Pops and Ultron battled it out, looking for a way to help. Steve was fighting, shieldless. He saw Natasha coming from a side street on her motorcycle, shield in hand.

He might've swung beside the truck for a bit too long, because Ultron turned to him and shot at him. He yelped and jumped onto the top of the truck and out of the way.

He looked over at Steve, who was standing beside him. "Hey Pops." He looked over at Ultron on the other side of the truck. "Hey... bro? I mean, my Dad created you, so... half-bro?"

Ultron gave him a look. "You poor child," he said in his dry voice. "You think what you're doing is the right thing, but you're not even close. Though, I can't blame you. You were practically raised to do so." 

"I'm not a child!" Peter exclaimed, his voice at that moment deciding to crack, causing Steve to chuckle. "And I know more about doing the right thing than you!" He shot a web at Ultron's hands, momentarily stopping him.

"Nice job," Steve said, adjusting his shield which Natasha had just thrown up to him. "Stay close." 

Peter nodded and watched as Ultron broke free from the web. He lifted up a chunk of the road in front of Natasha, causing her to stop short and Peter to watch in shock.

"He's magic, now?!" Peter exclaimed. He kept shooting webs at him. "He already has got a witch on his team!" 

Ultron looked back at Peter and Steve. He shot a blast at them, knocking them off of the truck and Steve onto a car and Peter to the ground.

Peter groaned and stood up. He gasped softly as Ultron moved the ground in front of them, making the cars flip. One headed in the direction of Peter. He tried to deflect it with a volley of webs. They just attached to the bottom and ultimately failed, and the car landed on top of him.

"Peter! You okay?" Steve asked over the earpiece. 

"I'm fine," Peter groaned. Had it hurt like heck? Oh most definitely. But it hadn't been the full force and the webs had stopped some of it from hitting Peter. 

He rolled out from under and stood up, sore as heck. "Ouch ouch ouch ouch," he muttered. He shook his arms and looked around. He saw his Pops gone and frowned. 

"What's that you were saying earlier, Pops?" He muttered. "About staying close?" 

He saw a train with a hole in the side and put two and two together. The truck should've been a few hundred feet away, but was gone. He looked up and froze. There was the back of the truck where the cradle had been, up in the air.

"Holy-" he cut himself off as he saw someone sliding out of the truck on some large thing... The Cradle.

"Aunt Natasha!" He muttered. He watched for a minute before seeing something in the corner of his eye.

Peter's eyes widened as he saw a robot flying towards Natasha.  "No!"  He yelled, shooting a web at the jet so he could get up to her, holding onto his sore arm. He swung to her and arrived just as the robot grabbed Natasha's foot.  Peter gritted his teeth and kicked at the robot.

His kick was half-successful.

He made contact with the robots arm, knocking the robots arm that was holding Natasha clean off.  Which now meant that Natasha was falling.

"Clint!"  Peter went to swing down and get her.  But suddenly, the one armed robot grabbed Peter around the waist.  Impacted by the force of being stopped mid-swing, he got the wind knocked out of him.

He heard Nat call, "Peter!" as Clint managed to catch her in the jet.  The robot flew Peter away.  

"Pops!"  Peter called breathlessly as the robot flew away with him.  He could hardly see where he was with how fast it was going.  He couldn't fight back either with the wind knocked out of him and the pain from having a car fall on him. 

"Peter?!"  He heard Steve say over the earpiece, static ringing through it.  "Peter where are you, are you oka-"

The earpiece cut off as he was thrown into something.  He let out a shout as he hit his head against metal and blacked out.


	27. Chapter 27

"Peter?!  Peter, where are you?  Are you oka-" Steve was cut off by his and Peter's connection going dead.  He cursed and tried to talk to Clint.  "Clint!  Do you have a visual on Peter?!"

"Steve, I'm sorry," Clint said quietly.  "I've gotta get The Cradle to Stark."  He heard Clint's line go dead and groaned.

"No, please no," Steve muttered.  "Not again, no."  Steve's world seemed to crumble around him.  He had lost Peter before.  He couldn't lose him again.  

"Captain," a familiar Russian accented girl said loudly.  "The train."

Steve focused vaguely back in on reality.  He tried to readjust to his surroundings again. He was on a train with many passengers on board that Ultron had shot a hole through the front of, causing it to lose the ability to brake. Maybe not the best place to zone out in.

"There are civilians in our path," Steve said distractedly, pointing to the front of the train. They were off the tracks and now speeding along the road. Pietro Maximoff - the fast twin - nodded and rushed out with his speediness.

Steve turned to Wanda, the weird twin. "Can you stop this thing?" He asked. Wanda nodded and started doing her magic thing, red mist coming from her fingers.

The twins had appeared to have had a disagreement with Ultron, maybe seeing him as he truly was. The had fought against him and then they arrived on the train when Ultron was still on and hadn't shot a hole through the front of the train. Steve didn't completely trust them yet, but he felt he needed to give them a chance.

Steve was thrown back as they went through a wall. Wanda stumbled but stayed surprisingly firm. He groaned and stood up as the train slowly came to a stop in the middle of a now almost empty street, thanks to Pietro.

Steve caught his breath and then went and helped usher passengers off of the train, the passengers happily complying. He then went over to the Maximoffs, Wanda standing in front of an exhausted looking Pietro.

"I'm fine," Pietro insisted, panting. "I just need a minute."

"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said, focusing now on the problem at hand. Peter was gone. Taken by Ultron. "Now where the heck is my son?"

"We don't know," Wanda said, turning to face Steve. "The Cradle, did you get it?"

"Tony will take care of it," Steve said, anger rising. He kicked a piece of debris on the ground from the train wreck. "But that is beside the point! My son has been stolen by a murderous robot, and I have no clue where he is!"

Wanda and Pietro exchanged looks, a bit of worry in their eyes. Whether it was for Steve's sanity or for The Cradle, he couldn't tell yet. Maybe both?

"No, he won't," Wanda said, focusing her gaze back at Steve.

First they don't tell me anything that can help me find my son, Steve thought. Now they're insulting my husband. 

"You don't know what you're talking about. Tony's not crazy." Steve shook his head. While his husband did act a bit reckless from time to time, he wasn't crazy. He held back the urge to just leave these two for the police to deal with. No, they were too powerful for just the police.

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda argued. Steve immediately recognized how right she was about that.

Steve turned away and started trying to contact Tony over the earpiece. "Tony, come in." No answer. "Tony." Nothing. "Anyone on comms?"

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda said from behind him. "Where do you think he gets that?"

——————

Tony watched on the roof as Clint and Natasha walked out of the jet, Cradle between them, solemn expressions on their faces.

"Perfect!" Tony said, smiling. He was somewhat relieved. He glanced back up at their faces and his smile flickered. "What's with the long faces?" He looked around and noticed that Steve and Peter weren't coming out of the jet. "Steve. Peter. Where are they? Still fighting?"

Clint looked down and Natasha spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "Steve is back stopping a runaway train, thanks to Ultron. And Peter..." she looked down as well and went silent.

"Tony, Ultron's got him."

Tony froze. He couldn't have heard Clint right. Ultron couldn't have Peter. He just couldn't. Tony rested a hand on The Cradle, trying to steady himself.

"One of Ultron's robots grabbed my foot while I was in the air getting The Cradle. It was about to fly away with me when Peter... when Peter came and attacked it. I got free, but..." Natasha went over to Tony. "I'm so sorry."

"That reckless little..." Tony laughed coldly, in shock. This couldn't be happening. He was shaking slightly. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

"Stark, you know that's not true," Clint said, sitting on The Cradle. 

"I created Ultron. I made him, thinking he could bring peace. That he would end the fight. But he didn't. Now, Ultron has my son, and I don't know where he is or what the heck Ultron is going to do with him! I let him go on that mission. Tell me, Barton. How is this not my fault?" Tony sat on The Cradle, holding his head in his hands.

"Tony?" Bruce said quietly. He was by the door on the roof behind him. Everyone turned back and faced him. He hesitated before continuing. "We should go into the lab. Start working on The Cradle. We need to get this out of the open and we can't get Peter until we make sure he can't use The Cradle and we get rid of what's inside."

Tony nodded. "You're right," He said distractedly. He stood up. "Let's go." He made his way down into the tower with The Cradle with the others' help.

Natasha rested a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Hey. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Tony said shortly, not meeting her gaze. "I'll be fine." He continued down with The Cradle.

"We will find him, Tony," Natasha assured him. Tony just nodded and stayed quiet.

But how could they find Peter when Peter didn't even know where he was?


End file.
